It is going to take Washington state investigators months to even begin to try and fully understand why Jaylen Fryberg was capable of carrying out school shootings at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Oct. 24 that left three close friends dead and two of his cousins fighting to recover. The cafeteria shooting was carried out with a Beretta handgun that was legally purchased by and registered to one of Fryberg's relatives. We are learning now that investigators will be looking closely into how Fryberg was able to access the gun, and if it was not under proper lock and key, then there is a chance the weapon's owner could be eventually facing negligent homicide charges.
Radar Online recently did some extra digging, and a Seattle-area attorney explained that while a solid law is not on the books, if the weapon was left in a careless place then the owner could still be successfully criminally charged.
According to Anne Bremner, "We don't have a specific child access law, but we do have a mechanism for charging through our negligent homicide law. We have seen this used criminally in two cases where a gun was left in a car and child use and death resulted."
This story has been sad since the first moment it was reported. We have already told you that Fryberg intentionally texted several friends to join him for lunch, and they ended up being the victims of this deadly shooting. The fact that this school shooting was not random is what seems to set it apart from what we usually would see in these cases, and it is what makes it so unnerving.
What drives a kid to decide to kill those closest to him, and if you are in high school and cannot trust those closest to you, then who can you trust? Fryberg's cousins, Andrew Fryberg and Nate Hatch, are still hospitalized, so this family has already been gutted with grief.
Do you think a family member might be found negligent in how easily accessible that Beretta was? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
