Some of the injured students were transported by ambulance to local hospitals

December 6, 1999
Web posted at: 1:17 p.m. EST (1817 GMT)

In this story: 'He fired all the rounds' Status of wounded RELATED STORIES, SITES

FORT GIBSON, Oklahoma (CNN) -- A 13-year-old boy firing a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun wounded four classmates at their rural Oklahoma middle school before being subdued and taken into custody, police said. The victims were taken to hospitals; their injuries did not appear life-threatening.

The alleged gunman, who has not been identified by authorities, was ordered held by a juvenile court judge at a hearing Monday afternoon.

Police knew of no motive for the shootings in Fort Gibson, a town of about 3,500 about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.

RESOURCES Recent school shootings     MESSAGE BOARD Keeping schools safe   Statement from Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the children who have been injured and with the children who were in the zone of injury, all of whom will bear the emotional scars of this day's events for the foreseeable future. We are also praying for their families. As we go to our houses of worship this week, we should also give prayers of thanks that the toll was not greater. In the longer term, we will be searching for answers, none of which will be easy. Answers must come from our families, our faith communities, our schools and our neighborhoods. I am convinced that one of those answers must be to listen more closely to what our children are telling us."

"He doesn't even know who it was he shot," said Muskogee County Sheriff's Deputy Terry Cragg, who spoke to the boy briefly in the isolation cell at the county jail. "There was not a hate thing. I asked him why. He said, 'I don't know.'"

Cragg said the boy did not appear remorseful and had a blank look on his face.

'He fired all the rounds'

School Superintendent Steve Wilmoth said students were gathered outside before the 8 a.m. start of classes at Fort Gibson Middle School when the suspect, a seventh-grader, "just walked up and opened fire on them."

Wilmoth said the boy began firing shortly after getting out of a car that dropped him off at the school.

"It's my understanding he fired all the rounds" in a 9 mm handgun, said Lt. Tim Brown of the Muskogee County Sheriff's Department. Investigators don't know who owned the gun.

The boy was subdued by the school safety officer, Wilmoth said. The superintendent said he was not aware of the suspect having any problems at the middle school, which has about 450 students in grades six, seven and eight.

A student at the school, Justine Hurst, 13, said of the seventh-grade suspect, "He seemed like a really nice person. I don't know why he would do it." She described the boy as "intelligent" and an "honor student."

A parent who went to the school to pick up his daughter said, "One of the boys who went to church with us did the shooting."

Status of wounded

The wounded -- three boys and a girl -- were taken to hospitals in the region; some of them transported by helicopter.

St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa said a 12-year-girl brought there had been shot in the right cheek and was in fair condition.

Crime tape cordons off parts of the school

At Tulsa Regional Medical Center, a spokeswoman said a 12-year-old boy was in fair condition with two gunshot wounds -- one to each arm.

Muskogee Regional Medical Center said two 13-year-old boys had been brought in. One had a gunshot wound to the forearm and one had a gunshot wound to the leg. They were both in stable condition.

Authorities said a fifth student suffered minor bruises but was not shot and not hospitalized.

Lt. Jack Mike, a warden at the Muskogee County Jail, said officers at first thought a frantic 911 call about the shooting was a hoax. The first call came from a student about 7:45 a.m. An adult made the second call.

Wilmoth said help was at the school in a matter of minutes.

The school district's 1,850 students were released early because of the shootings, but Wilmoth said classes would resume Tuesday with counselors on duty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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LASR - Fort Gibson, Oklahoma
National Alliance for Safe Schools
National Center for Education Statistics
  ’Ä¢ Statistical analysis report: Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools, 1996-97
National Alliance for Safe Schools
Gun-free Schools Act of 1994

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