Who was Orlando Harris? Ex-student, 19, who killed 2 in Missouri school yelled 'you all gonna f***ing die'
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: A gunman who opened fire at a high school in St Louis, Missouri, killing two people and injuring many others, has been identified by St Louis police as 19-year-old Orlando Harris. Harris, a former student of the same school, was dressed entirely in black as he entered Central Visual & Performing Arts High School on Monday, October 24, at 9.11 am, and began shooting.
According to witnesses, Harris' weapon jammed mid-attack. He allegedly yelled, "You’re all gonna f***ing die" before going on his evil rampage. St Louis Public Schools said cops were able to "quickly" stop the suspect by gunning him down. He exchanged gunfire with police and later succumbed to his injuries. Harris had graduated from the school last year.
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The city's police commissioner Michael Sack said students were running out of the school when officers arrived. Harris, he said, had a "long gun". He also had around a dozen 30-round ammunition magazines with him, CNN reported. Seven security workers who were on the site acted quickly and notified other staff, and contacted police, he said. "This is a heart-breaking day for all of us," he said, according to BBC. FBI agents are now assisting in the investigation.
Student Taniya Gholston, 16, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that Harris entered a classroom she was in and tried to shoot her. "I was trying to run and I couldn't run," she said. "Me and him made eye contact but I made it out because his gun got jammed." She also said she heard the attacker saying, "I'm tired of this damn school."
Student Alexis Bell, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene and a 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczk later died at the hospital. A chilling video posted to TikTok shows students hiding under desks as gunshots ring outside the classroom.
The doors of the school building were locked and it is unclear how he entered. Sack refused to open up on how the shooter got in as he did not want "to give a blueprint" to other would-be shooters. "The gun laws in St. Louis are very broad," Sack said, according to the Daily Mail. "If someone walks down the street with a rifle, if we have no cause we can't go and talk to them. And that's one of the greatest challenges we face."
Meanwhile, St Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said at a news conference following the shooting, "Our children shouldn't have to experience this." Jones added, "They shouldn't have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today." People who were injured are said to be suffering from gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries and cardiac arrest.