Katharine Lackey, and Carolyn Pesce

USAToday

A high school cafeteria worker tried to stop a gunman who killed one girl and shot four other students before taking his own life inside the cafeteria at a school north of Seattle, officials said Saturday.

Government officials identified the gunman in Friday's shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School as Jaylen Fryberg, a well-liked freshman and homecoming prince.

Snohomish County Sheriff's spokeswoman Shari Ireton said in a statement Saturday morning that the on-scene investigation at the high school was finished. A .40-caliber handgun was recovered, which authorities believe was the weapon used in the shooting, Ireton said.

Detectives confirmed a cafeteria worker attempted to intervene in the attack, but Ireton provided no other details about the worker's actions.

It does not appear that Fryberg chose his targets at random. Two of the victims —15-year-old Andrew Fryberg and 14-year-old Nate Hatch — are his cousins, relatives said. Two other girls — Shaylee Chucklenaskit and Gia Soriano, both 14 — were also wounded.

Nate Hatch's grandfather, Don Hatch, told KOMO-TV that his grandson was close friends with the other victims in the shooting, as well as Jaylen Fryberg. The group had recently attended prom together, he added.



"Only God knows what escalated this. Only God knows. Nobody pushed a button with bullying. It's just something that happened, and we don't know why," Hatch said.



Shaylee Chucklenaskit and Gia Soriano remained in critical condition Saturday. Andrew Fryberg is also in critical condition, and Nate Hatch is in serious condition.



Erick Cervantes, a student at the school who witnessed the shootings, told KIRO-TV that teacher Megan Silberberger confronted Fryberg before he shot himself. Officials did not identify her as the cafeteria worker who tried to intervene in the shooting.

"I believe she's actually the real hero. She's the one that intercepted him with the gun. He tried either reloading or tried aiming at her. She tried moving his hand away and he tried shooting and shot himself in the neck," Cervantes told the TV station.

He said the gunshots followed a verbal altercation.

"It started off with an argument, but then I looked back and there was just gunshots and just people falling down," Cervantes recalled. And immediately after the gunshots, the (woman) intervened, he said.

"She heard the gunshots first and she came in running through the door, right next to it," he recalled.

Student Jordan Luton told CNN he was finishing lunch at the Marysville, Wash., school when he saw the shooting unfold. He said he saw Fryberg go up to a table with students, then fire "about six bullets into the backs of them ... They were his friends, so it wasn't just random."

Austin Taylor was seated at a table next to the gunman: "All of sudden he stands up, pulls something out of his pocket," he told KING-TV. "At first I thought it was someone making a really loud noise like a bag, a loud pop. There were four more after that. I saw three kids just fall from the table, like they were falling to the ground dead."

He said the shooter "was just staring down every one of his victims as he shot them."

More than 1,000 people crowded into to The Grove Church for a candlelight vigil Friday night in response to the shooting.

Students, teachers and parents from the school and other rival high schools came together along with other community members to share in grief and offer each other comfort.

"On the one hand, I want to comfort and encourage others and bear their burdens, and on another hand, I'm in this community too, and it hurts," Lead Pastor Nik Baumgard said, struggling to hold back tears.

Governor Jay Inslee spoke at the vigil and asked Washingtonians to take extra time with their families in light of this tragic shooting.

"We need to tell our children they're not alone tonight and in the days to come," Inslee said.

Contributing: Danielle Leigh, KING 5 News; The Associated Press