Nearly three weeks ago, 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg opened fire on five of his closest friends in the cafeteria in Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state, killing all but one of them, Nate Hatch. Zoe Galasso died at the scene, as did Fryberg of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Over the last few weeks, Gia Soriano, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Andrew Fryberg have all died from their injuries, leaving the community in a continued state of grief. Police decided to release some of the 911 tapes from calls made from those close to the scene on that fateful morning so we can all get an idea of how traumatic it was.
Megan Silberberger was the young teacher new to the school who desperately tried to stop Fryberg from killing himself or anyone else. She told the 911 dispatcher:
"I have the shooter. Blood is everywhere. I do not see the gun. I tried to stop him before he shot himself. I do not know how many are down. I tried to stop him ... I am looking at him ... I need help. I need help now. Shooter, right here. He's wearing all black. I'm staring at him right now, sitting next to him. I need staff now. Shooter right here."
Another phone call came in from a woman who lives near the school. She told dispatchers that she had several students sheltered in her home and that they knew the shooter's identity.
"First name is Jaylen," she said.
"What's his last name?" the dispatcher asked.
"Fryberg, with an 'F,' and he's a freshman," she said.
Not all of the 43 emergency phone calls made during the first hour of the tragedy have been released. Still, there is enough there for listeners to understand just how panicked the people who were directly involved were.
Do you think it is too soon for these to have been released? The community is still actively grieving, so will being able to hear these recorded calls only make it harder right now? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
