Gia Soriano, a 14-year-old girl wounded in the Washington state high school shooting, has died.
Soriano died Sunday night, according to officials at Providence Regional Medical Center.
“We are devastated by this senseless tragedy,” her family said in a statement, which was read at a news conference by Dr. Joanne Roberts. “Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her.”
This brings the death toll to three, after freshman Jaylen Fryberg opened fire on classmates on Friday.
Another girl was killed at the scene at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, and Fryberg was shot and killed following the rampage. During the attack, a first-year teacher intervened, and It’s unclear if he intentionally killed himself or if the gun went off in a struggle with the teacher.
Gia Soriano, 2nd victim of Marysville, WA school shooting dies; school closed all week. http://t.co/8nnCV4wiLQ pic.twitter.com/uh4FR07geS
— FOX 12 Oregon KPTV (@fox12oregon) October 27, 2014
Of the three other wounded students, only 14-year-old Nate Hatch showed improvement, though he remained in serious condition in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition in intensive care. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.
The third wounded student, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14, remained in critical condition in intensive care at Providence Regional Medical Center.
The girl killed Friday hasn’t been officially identified.
RIP Gia Soriano,14, second victim of last week's school shooting in our neighborhood #MarysvilleShooting pic.twitter.com/LDpwLQZbfQ
— Mashariki Radio (@MasharikiRadio) October 27, 2014
A motive is still unclear, although the teen seemed to have been struggling after he was rebuffed by a love interest.
“We can’t answer that question,” said Matt Remle, a Tulalip tribal counselor who has an office at the high school. “But we try to make sense of the senselessness.”
Remle said he has been trying to help kids from the Native-American community of nearby Tulalip Indian reservation.
“My office has been a comfort space for Native students,” he said. “Many will come by and have lunch there, including the kids involved in the shooting.”
This is the full statement released by the Soriano family about the death of their 14-yr-old daughter Gia. pic.twitter.com/x4g9LWeu8c
— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) October 27, 2014
“They all were “really happy, smiling kids,” Remle said. “They were a polite group. A lot of the kids from the freshman class were close-knit. Loving.
“These were not kids who were isolated,” he said. “They had some amazing families, and have amazing families.”
Remle said it is difficult to understand why this happened in light of nature of the close-knit community.
“Maybe it would be easier if we knew the answer,” Remle said. “But we may never know.”
