Maryland School Shooting Victim, 16, Dies After Being Removed From Life Support
Jaelynn Willey, the Maryland high school student who was shot in the head on Tuesday, died late Thursday after her family removed her from life support.
Before she died, her mother, Melissa Willey, told reporters on Thursday that her 16-year-old had “no life left in her” after she was shot in the hallway of Great Mills High School in southern Maryland, according to The Baltimore Sun.
“My daughter was hurt by a boy who shot her in the head and took everything from our lives,” Melissa said. “It will be different forever.”
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office announced Jaelynn’s death.
Melissa described her daughter as being involved in school activities such as the swim team and being the second oldest of nine children. She thanked the nursing staff at the high school, as well as the doctors and nurses who cared for her daughter the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center.
Before the family removed Jaelynn from life support, Melissa said. “She is brain dead and has nothing, no life left in her. I just, I felt that as her mom I needed to make that statement to everybody. I felt like it was our place, me and my husband’s, to make that statement.”
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Jaelynn’s life was cut short on Tuesday after a fellow student, 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins, shot her and another student at the school about 7:50 a.m., according to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office.
“All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement released Wednesday.
“Rollins and the female victim had a prior relationship which recently ended. The investigation has not yet uncovered any public social media posts/threats made by Rollins. Detectives are continuing to interview friends, family and associates of Rollins to obtain further information.”
The statement added: “Investigation has determined the handgun utilized by Rollins in the shooting was legally owned by Rollins’ father.”
Sheriff Tim Cameron said an armed school resource officer, Deputy 1st Class Blaine Gaskill, quickly responded to the shooting that lasted about minute and that Rollins and Gaskill simultaneously fired one shot at each other.
Rollins sustained his life-threatening injury in the exchange, the sheriff said, and later died.
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“In this case we can say unequivocally that [Gaskill’s] response, his immediate response and engagement — we can only guess what the intent was. That stopped any further assault and attack on any other students,” the sheriff said in an interview with WUSA9.
The other student who was shot, 14-year-old Desmond Barnes, was treated for his injuries at the hospital and has been released.
Friends and families of both Willey and Barnes have set up separate YouCaring fundraising pages to assist with expenses.
Barnes, who was shot in the leg, is “an amazing child,” according to his fundraising page. “He is an exceptionally bright young male with an extremely bright future ahead of him. He is constantly winning awards and receiving recognition in various areas of study, making his parents, siblings, and entire family proud.”
“The entire family has a major battle ahead of them with related medical expenses, after care and only God knows what else.”