Slain Gunman Identified, 2 Teens Hurt In Maryland School Shooting

GREAT MILLS, MD — The shooting at Great Mills High School that left the gunman dead and two students injured was not a random act of violence, according to investigators. The student who shot two teens Tuesday morning at the southern Maryland school had recently been in a relationship with one of the victims, according to the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities credited the school resource officer at the school of roughly 1,600 with stopping the rampage from going further.

Austin Wyatt Rollins, 17, walked into the school he attended around 7:50 a.m. and several minutes later, fired at a girl and boy in the hallway before exchanging gunfire with the school resource officer, St. Mary's County Sheriff Timothy Cameron said.

"All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence," the sheriff's office said in a statement issued Wednesday. "Rollins and the female victim had a prior relationship which recently ended."

Authorities said Rollins gravely injured the 16-year-old girl and shot a 14-year-old boy in the leg.

Within a minute of gunfire ringing out, school resource officer Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill fired at the shooter and "almost simultaneously the shooter fired," Cameron said.

Immediately after the shooting, deputies, troopers and school nursing staff provided first aid.

Rollins was pronounced deceased at 10:41 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center in La Plata, Cameron said. It was unclear whether Rollins was killed by the officer's gunfire or by his own, according to the sheriff, who said that surveillance footage from the school was being reviewed.

The girl was taken to the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center, where she was being treated for life-threatening injuries in the intensive care unit, according to Cameron.

The boy was taken to MedStar St. Mary's Hospital, where he was in stable condition; he was released on Wednesday, officials reported.

Great Mills High officials announced that the school will be closed to assist law enforcement personnel and will reopen at the end of spring break, on Monday, April 2.

Investigators are continuing to interview witnesses, comb through social media and collect evidence from what the sheriff said were multiple crime scenes. Cameron said authorities were at Rollins' house Tuesday afternoon gathering evidence.

By Wednesday, authorities reported the boy had used a gun legally owned by his father. According to investigators, Rollins shot his victims with a Glock semiautomatic handgun in the hallway at Great Mills, which is located in a school system that does not have metal detectors.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan urged lawmakers to enact a package of school safety measures he proposed after last month's shootings in Parkland, Florida.

Hogan said he intended to allocate $125 million for safety improvements in schools such as metal detectors, security cameras and other capital improvements plus $50 million in operating funds each year for new school safety grants, which could be used for school resource officers, counselors and safety technology. The funding would come through the governor's education lockbox proposal, which provides an additional $4.4 billion in education spending from casino revenues, Hogan said. (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Hogan noted the deputy was a trained SWAT officer and thanked the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and all of the first responders who "swiftly and bravely took action to secure the school" as the morning's events unfolded.

"Our hearts are broken," Hogan said at Tuesday's press conference. "Although our pain remains fresh and the facts remain uncertain, today’s horrible events should not be an excuse to pause our conversation about school safety. Instead, it must serve as a call to action."

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As a parent of two high school students, Sheriff Cameron said he urges parents to "pray for the victims, pray for their well being and survival. I hope in some way we can return to normality, but I don't know how we do that."

Nearly 1,400 students were evacuated from Great Mills High School and bused to Leonardtown High School, where St. Mary's County Public Schools officials said before 10 a.m. they would be reunited with their families and guardians.

Afterward, school officials at the county, state and national levels echoed the sentiment and issued a call for action.

"We are heartbroken that gun violence in schools has now touched our community, and we pray for the full recovery of the students who were shot. Simply put, it is devastating that for the students of Great Mills, their memories of school will now include this traumatic day," Jill Morris, president of the Education Association of St. Mary’s County, said in a statement. "We are resolved to provide all the support and comfort we can to our colleagues and neighbors in the Great Mills community while we work together towards a day when no school community ever has to experience this type of tragedy.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer, who lives in St. Mary's County, told WUSA TV that the shooting may have stemmed from a romantic relationship. "This has got to stop. We need to take actions to make our schools safer, and our communities safe," he said.

The Maryland State Education Association President also issued a call for safety.

"As we learn more details from this morning’s shooting at Great Mills High School, one thing is clear: it is far past time for gun violence in our schools to end. Students and educators deserve days filled with learning and discovery, not with fear and lockdowns. We are grateful to the heroic school employees and first responders who protected students, and stand ready as a union family to support the educators, students, and community of Great Mills.”

The Baltimore Sun reported that a student said the shooting happened around 8 a.m. Terrence Rhames, 18, told the newspaper that he heard a gunshot and saw a girl fall as he ran for an exit. "I just thank God I'm safe," Rhames said. "I just want to know who did it and who got injured."

Great Mills High School is in southern Maryland near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. While the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, agencies around the state are offering assistance.

"Our prayers are with students, school personnel and first responders," Gov. Hogan said in a statement after 9 a.m. "Maryland State Police is in touch with local law enforcement and ready to provide support."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that its agents were en route to the school; federal officials said that special agents were coming from the Hyattsville field offices. Before 10 a.m., the FBI reported that it had agents at the scene and others ready to assist.

Anyone with information regarding the Great Mills High School shooting in Saint Mary's County is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) with tips.

Parents were told to report to the Leondardtown High School auditorium to be reunited with students from Great Mills. Leondardtown High School tweeted that its students were safe before 8:45 a.m.

While some will say it is not the time to talk about gun legislation, Hoyer disagreed.

“We’ve got to overcome the fear that any action will undermine [the] ability of citizens to own a gun," Hoyer said. Hunters and guns used for target practice were not the intended focus of gun legislation, he said.

“It is unimaginable that we don’t take action in Washington... to stem the carnage that is going on across the land. This is the absolute right time to talk about it until we take action to make us safer,” he said.

He said 97 percent of Americans believe everyone who buys a weapon should go through a thorough background check that looks at criminal history, mental health and whether they’re on a terror watch list. That should be a first step lawmakers take.

“I think it’s sad we need to have (school resource officers) but it’s clear we need to have protection on site to protect our children,” Hoyer said.

Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association (NEA), said that policy changes were in order to stop what she called "preventable and traumatic events" in the country's schools.

"Our hearts are broken yet again by a senseless and tragic shooting in our nation's public schools. The NEA is steadfast in our support of the students, staff and families of Great Mills High School," García said in a statement issued Tuesday. "We join the Maryland State Education Association and Education Association of St. Mary’s County in calling for policy changes that will end these preventable and traumatic events."

Added García: "Enough is enough. We all have a responsibility to create safe schools and communities. We can and must do more ensure that everyone who walks through our school is safe and free from the threat of violence."

Tuesday's shooting follows school shootings in Florida, California, Kentucky and Texas over the past six weeks.

On Feb. 14, a gunman shot 17 people to death and numerous others were injured after a former student allegedly opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the shooter as Nikolas Cruz, 19, who was taken into custody shortly after the killing spree began just before the end of the school day. The sheriff said 12 people died in the school building, two outside the school and one on the street. Two people died at the hospital from their injuries, the sheriff said. Fourteen people injured in the shooting were being treated at local hospitals.

Emma Gonzalez, a Parkland student who has emerged as a national student voice for gun law changes and an organizer of Saturday's March For Our Lives In Washington, D.C., has tweeted her support for the Maryland school.

On Feb. 1, a loaded gun in a student's backpack went off at Salvador B. Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, California. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head.

On Jan. 23, a 15-year-old student armed with a handgun opened fire at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, leaving two students dead and 17 others hurt.

Just a day earlier, a 16-year-old boy armed with a handgun shot a 15-year-old girl in the cafeteria of their Italy High School in Italy, Texas.

It was not the first time that the school in Maryland had been on lockdown for a suspected gunman. In 2014, WJLA reported there was a four-hour lockdown at Great Mills High School after authorities received a 911 call saying an armed student would begin shooting at 10 a.m. Officers searched classrooms and lockers, and some parents at the time called for metal detectors in the building.

The Associated Press and Patch Editor Deb Belt contributed reporting to this story.

MAIN PHOTOS: GREAT MILLS, MD - MARCH 20: Police vehicles are parked in front of Great Mills High School after a shooting on March 20, 2018, in Great Mills, Maryland. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. Students from Great Mills High School were picked up at Leonardtown High School following a school shooting at Great Mills High School March 20, 2018, in Leonardtown, Maryland. Photos by Win McNamee/Getty Images. Picture of Great Mills High School via St. Mary's County Public Schools.