Ohio school shooting: Death toll rises to 2; police search woods

 

A second student has died as a result of Monday's school shooting in Ohio, where parents, law enforcement officials, and even the family of the alleged gunman are reportedly struggling to find answers a day after the tragedy.

According to the Associated Press, student Russell King Jr., 17, was declared brain dead early Tuesday morning by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office. He was one of five students struck by gunfire Monday morning in the cafeteria of Chardon High School, located in a suburb about 30 miles from Cleveland.

Officials Monday identified the other student killed as Daniel Parmertor. One other student was in critical condition Monday afternoon, one was in serious condition, and one was in stable condition.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called the shootings an "unspeakable tragedy."

"It's still too early to know yet why a student took a firearm to school and shot his classmates," Duncan said in a statement. "But preliminary reports indicate that if it were not for the extraordinary courage of a teacher who chased the shooter out of the school, and if not for the speedy reaction of school leaders, the toll of these shootings could have been even worse."

Officials on Monday had not filed formal charges against the suspected gunman, arrested outside the school. The teenage suspect has not yet been formally identified by authorities.

The Cleveland station WEWS-TV reported that the suspect was not a student at Chardon High, but attended an alternative school for at-risk students. He was usually transported to the special school, presumably by bus, from the campus where the shooting occurred.

Some students told the station that the suspect was often bullied for his "Goth" style. Jonathan Donato, a reported friend of the suspect, told the station that the teenager was "just a person that, like, wanted to hide himself and keep all of his emotions ... and they built up and built up inside of him and they came out in a way nobody would expect ...."

An attorney for the suspect's family, in a statement, said that family members lamented the "terrible loss" for the community.

Members of the Chardon community gathered Monday night at a church to pray for the victims.

The Associated Press reported that investigators were combing a wooded area a few miles from the school. What they were looking to recover was unknown.