School Resource Officer Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill
SMNEWSNET has removed the name and all photos of the 17-year-old shooter in our articles, from this point on he will be referred to as “the shooter” We feel the public should see the victims faces and remember their names. All comments have also been removed for articles related to the shooting.
Update: 3/26/2018: Evidence indicates at approximately 7:57 am on March 20, 2018, the shooter, fired a single shot from a handgun in Great Mills High School Hallway F, striking Jaelynn Willey and Desmond Barnes. The shooter continued walking through the school, and was confronted by School Resource Officer, Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill, in Hallway D. The shooter fired one fatal shot to his head; simultaneously, DFC. Gaskill also fired one non-fatal shot, which struck the weapon in the shooter’s hand.
The links below are 911 audio recording of the incident, and below is a timeline of the incident. Further information will be released as is appropriate with this on-going investigation.
3/21/2018: On March 20, 2018, at approximately 7:58 am, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police personnel responded to Great Mills High School, located at 21130 Great Mills Road, Great Mills, Maryland, for reported shots fired inside the school.
Upon arrival, three individuals were discovered suffering from gunshot wounds.
Preliminary investigation determined on March 20, 2018, at approximately 7:50 am, the shooter, age 17, of Lexington Park, entered the school, where he was enrolled as a student. Several minutes after entering the school, the shooter shot a 16 year old female he was acquainted with, in the school hallway, gravely injuring the female victim. A 14 year old male student who was in the same hallway was shot in the leg. The female victim sustained life threatening injuries, and is currently in critical condition at University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center. The male victim was transported to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment and was discharged on March 21, 2018. The investigation is continuing by detectives from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
The shooter, and the victims were provided with medical attention at the scene; the shooter was subsequently transported to University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. The shooter was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland for an autopsy.
All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence. The shooter and the female victim had a prior relationship which recently ended. The investigation has not yet uncovered any public social media posts/threats made by the shooter. Detectives are continuing to interview friends, family, and associates of the shooter to obtain further information. Once all facts are collected and verified, information will be disseminated to the public. Investigation has determined the handgun utilized by the shooter in the shooting was legally owned by the shooters’ father.
Anyone with information pertaining to this case is asked to contact Detective Melissa Hulse at (301) 475-4200 extension *1996 or by email at [email protected], information may also be provided to 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
If anyone has photographs or video of the incident please send to FBI.gov/greatmills.
