Marysville-Pilchuck High School, located nearly an hour from Seattle, is grieving the loss of another student as it has been confirmed that Andrew Fryberg has died. Fryberg was one of five students gunned down in the school cafeteria on October 24 by his cousin, Jaylen Fryberg. Andrew, Zoe Galasso, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano all were shot in the head and never recovered. One student, Nate Hatch, was shot in the jaw and was released from the hospital earlier this week.
Andrew's family released a simple statement last night saying, "We express our thanks for the amazing support from the community, as well as from everyone around the world that have been praying for us all through this tragic event."
Since the deadly school massacre it has been revealed that Jaylen was upset with his cousin Andrew over a girl. Apparently Jaylen was interested in one of the girls that he later killed, but she decided to spend time with his cousin instead. This caused Jaylen to lash out on social media to express his upset with the situation. Friends of the two have said that there was clearly a fight but it never occurred to anyone that things could turn deadly.
We now know that Jaylen lured his closest friends to a particular table for lunch and when everyone was there, he opened fire before killing himself. The community has grieved openly and while students did return to school last week, they have been attending funerals of their friends and trying to make sense of a crime that is impossible to really comprehend.
The Fryberg family is a prominent member of the Tulalip Indian Reservation and it has been previously reported that they once expected Jaylen to eventually assume a position of leadership within the tribe. Instead they are left to grieve two family members while wondering if the owner of the gun that Jaylen used will somehow be charged in connection with this shooting.
