Police arrested a suspect in a North Carolina high school shooting Wednesday that left one student dead.
“The suspect from the shooting at Mt. Tabor High School was taken into custody without incident,” Winston-Salem police said on Twitter. “The investigation is still ongoing & we will release more information as appropriate.”
No further information was immediately available on the suspect or a motive.
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The arrest came two hours after a police press conference, in which they detailed the shooting’s events. Police said they responded to Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem at 12:07 p.m. and found student William Miller Jr. with a gunshot wound. Miller was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries, the city’s police chief Catrina Thompson said.
Thompson said other cities throughout the county also locked down their schools.
She took time to dispel online rumors surrounding the shooting, reiterating that only one student was shot, though noted that others suffered trauma-induced events such as seizures in the aftermath.
“We’ve had a couple of those types of incidents that occurred where we had to provide medical assistance to the students, but there was only one student that was shot today, and unfortunately we lost that student,” she said.
The investigation will be led by Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough.
“Anytime you’re looking for a person wanted, or of interest in a police investigation,” Kimbrough said, “I would consider that person to be dangerous.”
The sheriff added that he spoke to Miller’s mother and assured her authorities would bring the shooter to justice. Kimbrough said that during their phone call, he told the devastated mom he wouldn’t say Miller’s name.
“My first responsibility is to the family in times like this,” he said. “She said ‘say his name.’”
