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A middle school student was shot and killed by a fellow classmate outside of Washington Middle School on Friday (August 13). The shooter was immediately taken into custody by a school resource officer. Neither student has been identified, but police said they are both around 13-years-old.
"It's just a terrible day for APS, terrible day for this community," Scott Elder, superintendent for Albuquerque Public Schools, said during a press conference. "I want to send out my thoughts and prayers. ... I want to also say thank you to the staff at Washington Middle School who showed tremendous strength and courage ... especially our school resource officer who ran toward the situation and tried to de-escalate the situation."
The shooting occurred around 12:45 p.m. near the school's track during a lunch break. The student who was shot was trying to break up a fight between two students.
"Sadly, a child lost his life because a classmate brought a gun to school. The boy who lost his life is also a hero. He stood up for a friend and tried to de-escalate a violent confrontation between classmates. This incident is a tragedy that has shaken our community," Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said.
Amari Asbury, an eighth-grader who witnessed the shooting, described the scene to KOAT.
"They were punching him, so he went over there to tell him, don't be doing that, and he was speaking Spanish, and he brought out the gun, cocked it, and all you hear is boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Everybody just starts running."