Local police apprehended a suspect for last Friday's school shooting in Portland, Ore. that left four wounded. The suspect was said to be accompanied by two other men who are believed to be in their late teens or early twenties.
The suspect, 22-year old Lonzo Murphy, was driving a car last Saturday at around half past one in the morning at North Interstate Avenue. Police tagged Murphy as a person of interest after a handgun was found in his possession. Authorities have also searched his apartment, which is located only five blocks away from Rosemary Anderson High School where the incident took place.
The police have also identified the hosptialized victims of the shooting: Labreye Franklin, 17; David Jackson-Liday, 20; Taylor Michelle Zimmers, 16. Zimmer is in serious condition, while Franklin and Jackson-Liday are in a better condition.
Authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the shooting incident was gang-related. Among the hospitalized victims, only Jackson-Liday is a gang member, according to the police.
Portland is no starnger when it comes to gang-related crimes. According to Portland police, gang crimes in the area have been on the rise in summer. In June, a man was shot and died and a 5-year old boy suffered a gunshot on his leg.
The local police have also mentioned that they do not have enough resources to stop the crimes caused by local gangs.
About 37 school shooting incidents have occured in the United States this year alone. School shootings have happened in the past, but the occurences these past few years were quite alarming.
According to psychologist Dr. Peter Langman, there are warning signs that a child may have an attack-related behavior. Most school shooters are known to have prepared for the attack, from planning, to diagramming, to piling up weapons to be used.
But there is a key aspect to knowing whether a child is capable of school shooting. "A key aspect of attack-related behavior is leakage -the leaking of plans to other people. Leakage occurs in several ways, including attempts to recruit someone to join the attack, warning a friend to stay away from school on a certain day, bragging about the upcoming attack, or otherwise indicating violent intentions," Langman explains.
