https://www.facebook.com/wave3news/videos/10156058392003686/?hc_ref=ARRUKhREuT9dixYdFAz9a3DM4YKrvD0fZJ6ZetxJAB6WMudjI_-3KTbZNRvPfvGmmrM
Evening news conference via WAVE Facebook
Two 15-year old Marshall County High School students were killed and over a dozen more were injured in a shooting just before 8 a.m. Tuesday in a commons area of the school in Benton.
Governor Matt Bevin confirmed a second victim had died during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The victims were identified as 15-year old Bailey Nicole Holt and 15-year old Preston Ryan Cope.
Twenty students were injured, 16 by gunfire and the victims ranged in age from 14 to 18.
Four students were injured while exiting the school
A 15-year old male Marshall County student who was armed with a pistol was arrested without incident at the school by a local sheriff’s deputy.
KSP Lt. Michael Webb said they are looking into the suspect’s background.
Lt. Webb says the tragedy is personal to him and others investigating.
Commissioner Rick Sanders said it was a difficult day for first responders and said one trooper initially believed he had lost his own daughter in the tragedy.
Officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center held an afternoon news conference and said they received five of the patients. Three had gunshot wounds to the head, one had a gunshot wound to the arm and another a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Cope died at Vanderbilt and the patients remaining at the Nashville hospital are in critical condition, but are expected to recover.
Marshall County School System Superintendent Trent Lovett issued a statement on Twitter Tuesday night, asking that the community wrap their arms around the families of the victims and around the students. He expressed appreciation for the outpouring of support from those across the state and nation.
A family resource center has been established for anyone who may need supplies and a counseling center will be set up at the Pepsi Bottling Building in Benton.
The shooting came 20 years and two months after Michael Carneal opened fire at Heath High School near Paducah, killing three students and injuring five more.
— Trent Lovett (@trentlovett) January 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/TilleyKY/status/955875088150212608