Suspect in Seattle-area shooting surrenders

Pixilated image of the 13-year-old boy turning himself in to the police (the youth's face has been obscured because he is a juvenile)

July 18, 2000
Web posted at: 6:29 p.m. EDT (2229 GMT)

In this story: Motive unclear 121 students in cafeteria RELATED STORIES, SITES

RENTON, Washington (CNN) -- One day after a gun was fired inside his school cafeteria, the 13-year-old boy suspected of pulling the trigger turned himself in to police, a spokesman for the King County, Washington, Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.

The boy was taken into custody at the home of his grandparents, six blocks from Dimmitt Middle School, where police say he fired one shot from a .22-caliber handgun into the ceiling of the cafeteria. No one was injured.

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Sheriff's department spokesman John Urquhart said a motive for the shooting remained unclear.

"We're getting lots of information, and we're not putting a whole lot of stock in any of it, because it's all mostly rumor and comes from a bunch of different kids," Urquhart said.

"Until we talk to the boy and find out what was really going through his mind, we're not going to focus in on any one motive," Urquhart said.

Urquhart said the gun, which authorities say belonged to the boy's grandfather, had not yet been recovered.

Summer school classes at the school and at nearby Thompson Elementary were canceled Tuesday.

"We're looking at all the pieces, talking with families, talking with staff, making sure that the kids and the staff are being supported through counseling services," said Vice Principal Mel Cooley.

A police officer with a rifle waited on a field across from Dimmitt Middle School after Monday's shooting

Witnesses who were among the 121 students in the school's cafeteria told authorities that the boy jumped on a table, fired one shot into the ceiling and told everyone to get on the stage in the cafeteria. Students scattered, and the boy fled.

Several students told police the boy had talked about shooting teachers, but they said they did not believe him.

Classmate Terrence Williams, 13, said the boy had told him he was having "hard times" at home. The boy lives with his mother and often visited with his grandparents who live nearby, authorities said.

Urquhart said the boy's parents had been "very cooperative" with investigators.

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