Jean Kuczka, a 61-year-old health teacher, and Alexzandria Bell, a 15-year-old student, were killed in the shooting. The gunman died after a shootout with authorities.
The 19-year-old gunman who killed two people at a St. Louis high school Monday, officials say that he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and over 600 rounds of ammunition, and left behind a note referencing mass shootings.
On Tuesday showed an image of the rifle used by Orlando Harris, who died after exchanging fire with officers. The shooting could've been worse had officers not gotten to the school as quickly as they did, St. Louis Police Chief Mike Sack said.
“This could’ve been a horrific scene," he said. "It was not by the grace of god and that the officers were as close as they were and responded in the manner that they did."
Harris also left a handwritten note in the car he drove to the school, according to police. It read in which he described himself as a loner and made reference to mass shootings. He entered Central Visual Performing Arts High School Monday morning at around 9 a.m.
Jean Kuczka, a 61-year-old health teacher, and Alexzandria Bell, a 15-year-old student, were killed in the shooting, according to officials. Kuczka was a mother of five, a grandmother of seven and a bike rider who participated in an annual charity event to raise money for juvenile diabetes, which her son has, according to her profile on the high school’s website.
Andre Bell, Alexzandria’s adoptive father who lives in Los Angeles, called losing her “a nightmare,” NBC affiliate KSDK reported. The 15-year-old sophomore had an outgoing personality and was a member of her high school's junior varsity dance team, Bell told the news station. “She was joyful, wonderful and just a great person,” he said to KSDK.
Sack wasn't able to provide any update on the multiple other victims injured in the shooting, saying that he's not aware of any of them being released from the hospital since they were admitted.
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