Students in a middle school hallway when a ninth-grader was shot to death said a classmate came up from behind, fired a gun into the back of his head and calmly walked off as panic erupted and classrooms were locked down.
The fatal shooting of 14-year-old Todd Brown on Friday afternoon set off mourning among Discovery Middle School’s students, with a weekend of prayer groups, counseling and a town meeting planned to deal with the grief.
Police said another ninth-grader, also 14, was arrested by a school officer and taken into custody, where he was charged with murder after Brown was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday night. The youth, who name has not been released, could be certified to stand trial as an adult on a murder charge during a hearing this afternoon. He is being held in a juvenile detention center.
After the shooting Friday, students huddled and hid in darkened rooms after the shooting during a class change, fearing more bloodshed. But the suspect reportedly went to a bathroom, where he was arrested without incident.
The motive in the shooting wasn’t immediately clear. Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey said there were rumors that an Internet posting may have been connected to the shooting, but described it as “hearsay” and the investigation was continuing.
Discovery student Aaron Sims said he witnessed the shooting from about eight feet away and at first “didn’t think anything was up.”
“I saw (the shooter) and he walks up, and he’s very calm,” Sims, 15, told The Huntsville Times.
“He came up from behind Todd, pulled the gun out of his jacket pocket, put it to the back of his head and shot it,” Sims said. “Then he lowered the gun, cocked it again and walked away like nothing happened ... creepy.”
Sims said that when he saw Brown fall, he ran to the nearest classroom and the school announced a “Code Red,” a lockdown.
Counseling was offered Saturday to the 1,000 students, many of whose parents work in technology and space agency jobs. A town meeting is set for Sunday at Bob Jones High School to talk through the tragedy.
Extra police were on hand as the school reopened today.
Madison school superintendent Dee Fowler says students need each other after what happened on Friday. That’s one reason leaders decided to reopen the school. But extra police officers were on the campus, and Fowler said the school will have a liberal absentee policy.
