The teen responsible for the latest school shooting is Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, who entered a Maryland high school and shot a 16-year-old female student and another 14-year-old male student with a handgun.
Officer Blaine Gaskill was alerted to the shooting and according to reports”immediately” engaged the shooter. The pair exchanged fire but the seasoned officer neutralized the threat. Other quick thinking heroes on the scene managed to provide first aid to the wounded students and they are currently being treated in the hospital. The young girl is reportedly in critical condition.
Officer Gaskill is no stranger to tense situations, as a recent Youtube video revealed one domestic call he answered in which a man points a gun at him. Gaskill manages to diffuse the situation without harming anyone or getting harmed himself.
Here is the latest update from the Sheriff’s department:
JUST IN: St. Mary's Co. sheriff IDs Great Mills High School student Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, as alleged shooter
• 16 yr old female student in the ICU
• 14 yr. old male student shot also in hospital
• Indication suspect had prior relationship with female victim pic.twitter.com/WUPSXKCMlR— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 20, 2018
Thankfully, Gaskill took drastically different actions than the officer on scene took in Parkland, where they allegedly waited outside while the shooting continued. Students praised Gaskill as a hero, saying that he ran towards the threat as at least one teacher and other students looked on a bit confused, not really sure what was happening. “I heard one shot and when we ran, we saw a teacher and he was looking at us with a confused look. We were trying to figure out if this is real,” senior Terrence Rhames told NBC news.
Others tweeted that Gaskill is a “true hero who did his job.”
Amen!