Suspect in Italy school shooting had a history of violent behavior

Update at 6 p.m .: Revised with details from The Associated Press.

A 15-year-old girl was hospitalized Monday morning after a school shooting in the Italian town of Ellis County.

A 16-year-old boy has been taken into custody, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office said.

The suspect was a student who left the Italy High building immediately after firing several shots with a .380 caliber handgun in the cafeteria, officials said. Typically 45 to 55 students are in the cafeteria at this time.

Cassie Shook, a 17-year-old junior from the school, told The Associated Press she was on her way to the building when she saw “the doors open and everyone screaming and running out of the building.” . She said she was angry when she found out who the suspect was because she had complained about the boy at least twice to school officials, including a deputy principal.

“It could have been preventable,” she said. “There were so many signs.”

Shook said she first spoke to school officials after the boy allegedly made a “hit list” in eighth grade and had his name on it. Then last year the boy got angry during class and threw a pair of scissors at his friend, then a computer against a wall, she said.

“I ran out of the classroom screaming, telling everyone to hide because I was scared,” Shook said.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the shooting at around 8:30 am and said the students had been moved, “under surveillance”, to another location.

Parents were able to reunite with their children at Stafford Primary School, said Lee Joffre, ISD superintendent in Italy.

The injured girl, whose name has not been released, was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. His condition was not provided either.

Italy, 24 kilometers south of Waxahachie, bills itself as “the biggest small town in Texas”. It has a population of around 2,000.

KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported a “massive” police presence at the school.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department was investigating the shooting. Italian police, the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Rangers were assisting.

The Associated Press and editors Jacob Prothro and Tom Steele contributed to this story.