Fourth Washington State Victim Dies

Two weeks ago, teenage Jaylen Fryberg invited his friends to lunch in his school cafeteria. Soon after they all sat down, he pulled out a gun and shot them all, at close range, before turning the gun on himself. Though only the shooter and one of his victims died that day, five others were hospitalized, and most have not survived. On Friday, the fourth victim of the Washington school shooting, Andrew Fryberg, died in hospital from his injuries.

Jaylen Fryberg himself and his first victim, Zoe Glasso, were the only two to die on October 24, the day that the angry teen opened fire on his friends and family for no known reason. Last Friday, the shooting's third victim, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, passed away due to her injuries. The Sunday before that, Gia Soriano, also 14 years old, was pronounced dead.

For the last week, only the shooter's cousins — 15-year-old Andrew Fryberg, and 14-year-old Nate Hatch — had been shot and lived to tell the tale. Tragically, though Hatch is now in good health, Seattle's Harborview Medical Center confirmed that Andrew Fryberg died of his wounds Friday night. In a statement, Andrew Fryberg's family thanked the community and the hospital for their "amazing" support, saying:

We express our thanks for the amazing support from the community, as well as from everyone around the world that have been praying for us all through this tragic event ... Our family is overwhelmed with the love and care that has been provided to our loved one during this time and you all will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

Only a day before Andrew Fryberg passed away, his cousin, Hatch, was released from the same hospital (where he had a visit from Macklemore), having had surgery to fix a gunshot wound to the jaw. On Friday night, Hatch posted a heartbreaking goodbye to his cousin on Facebook, saying:

You were my other half you were my brother we were supposed to conquer this life together I can't even begin to imagine this life without you I love you so much and I well [sic] live every day thinking about you ... Nothing seems to make sense at this time the worst things always happen to the best people but now you're somewhere no one can hurt you.

According to various reports, Andrew Fryberg, Jaylen Fryberg and Hatch were all very close, and there's still no insight as to why Jaylen Fryberg would have wanted to kill his two cousins and lifelong friends. The picture we have of the disturbed teen — a gun-loving, broken-hearted, athletic homecoming prince — seems to offer more questions than answers.

What we know? School shootings don't seem to be going anywhere. Just last week, two teenagers were arrested for planning attacks on their respective schools. One of them, a 17-year-old girl, wanted to be the first female mass murderer. The other — whom the police were able to catch in time only because he'd been too drunk to carry out his attack on the day he'd planned, so had postponed it by two days — had a handgun and three home-made explosives.

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