TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — UPDATE 02/06
New information from the Sunnyside School District confirms that two of the three 16-year-olds hospitalized as a result of the shooting attend Desert View High School. The students' information will not be released at this time.
The district has also confirmed that 19-year-old Eduardo Salazar, who was killed at the scene, was not a student at SUSD.
SUSD has told KGUN 9 that Desert View's principal, counselors, district security and law enforcement officers held a 'town hall' Monday on campus to provide a forum for students and let them know about available support and resources:
Desert View's leadership team acted swiftly to ensure that the high school's crisis response team was activated and counselors were readily available to provide support for students.
SRO's were on campus to provide additional support to students and to be available for anyone who wished to speak to law enforcement.
A Town Hall led by the school Principal, Counselors, Law Enforcement Officers and District Security took place this morning to inform students of the resources available.
Students were encouraged not to participate in sharing misinformation and asked to report any information to law enforcement. An all staff meeting also took place this afternoon.
We are saddened by the events that took place this weekend; our prayers go out to the victims and their families.
~ Sunnyside School District
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ORIGINAL STORY:
Nancy Fortin and John Griffin have been living at their house near Alvernon and Valencia in Tucson for almost two years.
Early Sunday morning around 3 A.M. they heard gunshots, something they wouldn’t have expected in their neighborhood. Bullets from the gun even hit their truck and the side of their house.
“I heard the gunshot, like a burrrr, like that and I said oh my God,” Fortin said.
She and her husband didn’t expect to see about 30 teenagers running for their lives.
“I just felt so bad for all those teenagers, all screaming and running down the road,” she said.
Some of them even ran to their front door, ringing their doorbell in a panic.
“There was two teenagers huddled up by our door and I opened the door and I said what the hell is going on? And they said someone is shooting at us,” Fortin recounted.
That’s when they called 911, saying it took about ten minutes for the Tucson Police Department to get there.
Meanwhile, they noticed a red car with its door open. They said the people in the car had an automatic gun.
“They had just missed that car. It took off just before they got here,” Fortin said.
They said while there are sometimes parties in the neighborhood with fireworks, this was the first one they had heard about that involved a gun.
“That’s the first gun that we’ve been around and to me it’s scary, very scary,” Fortin said.
Other neighbors said the house has a party every weekend until about 3 in the morning and they said they even hear gunshots every weekend. As for the ages of the people partying, neighbors said they mostly see teenagers around 15 to 17 years old hanging out there.
The Tucson Police Department said three teenage boys were taken to the hospital, one of them with critical injuries. The other two have serious injuries but they aren’t life threatening.
TPD said they’re still investigating this shooting and right now no one is in any danger.
TPD said there aren’t any suspects in custody yet, and Fortin and Griffin just hope they find the suspect and make that person pay the price.
They said now they don’t feel as safe living in their neighborhood and are considering moving.
“We were going to anyway, but this is going to speed it along a little bit,” Fortin said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
