Update 3pm: From this afternoon’s Press Conference: Roswell Mayor Del Jurney asks for prayers for city and says these crimes occurring far too often. A 12 year old boy has been arrested for the shootings. A teacher of the school suffered minor injuries when he approached the 12 year old asking him to put down the gun. The teacher is credited with preventing more gunfire. The The two students shot in Tuesday’s Roswell Middle School shooting have been reportedly air lifted from a Roswell hospital to a Lubbock hospital according to a University Medical Center spokesman.
The boy, age 14, is listed in critical condition, but the girl, age 13, has been upgraded to serious condition. The shooting happened at Berrendo Middle School.
One student says he saw one of the victims had been shot in the face. The Associated Press is reporting that the 12-year-old has claimed he was the intended target.
KOBtv 4 is reporting that
The school remains on lockdown after the shooting on Tuesday morning.
New Mexico State Police officials said local authorities were dispatched to the school at 8:11 a.m. Witnesses tell KOB the shooting took place in the gym before school started. Several witnesses said the shooter fired a gun into a crowd of students before a teacher tackled him.
According to the Roswell Police Department Facebook page, the shooter was apprehended.
A source close to the investigation tells KOB a 13-year-old was taken into custody.
KRQE is reporting on how the parents are taking all of this.
It has been a very emotional morning in Roswell.
After police put Berrendo Middle School on lockdown, they notified the students’ parents to pick their kids up at the local mall.
Hundreds of parents rushed to the mall parking lot and waited for their kids to be shuttled by bus to safety.
Those parents huddled around praying as they waited for their sons and daughters to arrive.
Family members were finally reunited with their loved ones at around 10 a.m., nearly two hours after the shooting.
“As you’re standing there and you’re waiting to pick up your son, seeing the faces of the children coming out and tears and scared it just breaks your heart to see these kids at such a young age to have to witness and be a part of such a tragedy,” Cathy Seely said.
State police, with Gov Martinez expected to be in attendance, have said that they will hold a press conference later today.
The Red Cross has alerted 600 volunteers to help provide food and water to investigators and to assist with mental health treatment in the coming days and weeks.
Please keep the families and the community in prayer as they struggle through the days ahead.
For more on the Roswell Shooting click here
