A 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed a classmate on Friday, the first day of school at a Maryland high school, has been arrested, police said Saturday.
Jalen LaShawn Prince was charged as an adult with murder, first- and second-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony/violent crime. This was announced by the Harford County Sheriff's Office.
A young murder suspect was arrested at a nearby apartment just minutes after Friday's deadly shooting at Joppatowne High School, and police caught him trying to break into the home in a desperate attempt to elude authorities.
It is still unclear what happened between Prince and the alleged victim, 15-year-old Warren Curtis Grant, but police say the two boys knew each other.
Police said Prince fired one shot in a boys' bathroom on the first floor after an argument about 12:35 p.m. It was Prince's first day at Joppatowne High School, and classes began on Tuesday.
Students dragged the injured Grant out into the hallway, where he was treated by the school nurse before being flown by helicopter to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he died.
Prince fled the school but was taken into custody at approximately 12:50 p.m. His identity was not released until Saturday afternoon.
The teenage shooter was previously known to police, who would not say whether he had a juvenile criminal history but said they had received calls about Prince in the past.
“Since 2022, there have been more than 10 cases where the suspect was a victim, witness or suspect in an investigation by the Harford County Sheriff's Office,” officials said Friday night.
The firearm has not yet been recovered.
The horrific shooting came just two days after 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire at Apalachee High School in north Georgia, killing two students and two teachers and wounding nine others.
Colt and his father, Collin Gray, who allegedly bought the AR-15-style rifle used in the massacre as a Christmas gift for his son, were arrested and charged with murder several months after he was accused of threatening to commit a school shooting.
The two made their first court appearance on Friday and were informed they could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
