UPDATE: 2 Students Fatally Shot at Arizona High School
- By Sydny Shepard
- Feb 12, 2016
[February 12, 2016 1:15 p.m.]
The double shooting at a Glendale, Arizona, high school involved two 15-year-old sophomores who both died of single gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The incident at Independence High School was not an active shooter situation once police cleared the scene and found the teens dead, the weapon beside the bodies.
Police arrived within two minutes after reports came in just before 8 a.m. local time.
Police are still investigating the case, and officials could not immediately confirm how the students were connected and whether the shooting is a murder-suicide or double suicide.
“There were, to our knowledge, absolutely no threats made at the school, before, during or after the situation,” Glendale Police Spokesperson Tracey Breeden said at a media briefing.
The girls’ bodies were found in an isolated part of campus. The school day had just begun and police don’t believe the killings happened while other students were watching.
The school was locked down for the majority of the day, and parents were being bused in from a nearby Wal-Mart parking lot to be reunited with their children.
[February 16, 2016 9:00 a.m.]
Police have identified the two 15-year-olds involved in an apparent murder-suicide to be May Kieu and Dorothy Dutiel.
According to social media accounts, the 10th graders had been dating for more than two years. Friends believe the relationship was unraveling the morning of Feb. 12.
Police were able to deem the shooting a murder-suicide based on the weapon and suicide note found next the the bodies.
Spokesperson Sergeant Tracy Breeden of Glendale police will be updating the media on many details of the case, such as how the gun was obtained, on Tuesday, February 16.
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.