JOPPA, Md. — A dispute in a Maryland high school bathroom between two boys ended with one shooting the other Friday in what authorities called an isolated incident.
The victim, 15, was in serious condition after being airlifted to a hospital, Harford County Public Schools said in a news release, citing information it received from the county sheriff’s department.
A 16-year-old student whom police identified as the shooter at Joppatowne High School fled shortly afterward but was caught minutes later nearby, according to the news release. Officials said no information would be released immediately about the weapon, which had not been recovered.
The state’s attorney has said the suspect will be charged, the release said, citing Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler.
Shortly after the shooting, the sheriff’s office asked people to avoid the area but emphasized the confrontation was an “isolated incident, not an active shooter.” A parent-student reunification center was established at a nearby church. More than 100 personnel responded to the high school about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore, Gahler said.
The fight happened two days after a shooter whom authorities identified as a 14-year-old student killed four people at a high school outside Atlanta. Wednesday’s attack renewed debate about safe storage laws for guns and had parents wondering how to talk to their children about school shootings and trauma.
