KGMI News
SPOKANE, Wash. – The shooting at Freeman High School near Spokane might have been worse if the suspect’s AR-15 rifle hadn’t jammed, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said.
Caleb Sharpe used a handgun to kill a classmate and wound three others after the rifle malfunctioned, Knezovich said, and the 15-year-old also had several boxes of ammunition.
Knezovich said Sharpe should be tried as an adult.
According to court documents, Sharpe told police the student he killed picked on him, but neither he nor the other three victims were specific targets.
Sharpe was in the care of a school counselor for suicidal thoughts and left a suicide note at his home. He posted videos online showing him playing with guns.
A reporter asked the Sheriff if signals were missed. “They’re always missed. You tell me one of these things that you’ve covered that you can’t say that you always hear the same thing: they saw it coming.”
The three wounded victims are expected to survive.
The mother of the boy who was killed lost her husband three months ago, Knezovich said.
The Sheriff had blame for elected official’s contribution to a culture of violence. “Those in the political world, knock it off. Enough. Both the right and the left. You’re both enamored by a radicalized hate. You seem to hate everybody.”
The Sheriff said the media is to blame for the frequency of school shootings. “You keep using their names. You have made them heroes to some people,” Knezovich said. “You keep giving these people headlines.”