The killer fatally shot Justin Shilling, 17, inside a bathroom at the high school, after which a second student escaped, the Free Press has learned.
An Oxford High School student narrowly escaped potential death in Tuesday’s tragedy by running from a boy’s bathroom where a classmate was fatally shot, the Free Press has learned. A source with knowledge of the mass shooting said that during the rampage that would leave four students dead and six students and one teacher injured, the killer used a handgun to fatally shoot Justin Shilling,17, inside a school bathroom. More: Parents were repeatedly told school was safe before shooting A second student who also was inside the bathroom at the time Shilling was shot in the head, at close range, was able to run from the bathroom and escape, the source said. The disturbing new details emerged Friday in what appears to be the deadliest school shooting in the nation since 2018. Shilling, praised as a dedicated student and athlete, was pronounced dead Wednesday at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, officials said. Justin’s family made the decision to donate his organs to Gift of Life, and his body was kept alive until the organs could be harvested Friday, said David Jones, a hospital spokesman. The source’s description of the circumstances under which Shilling was shot is consistent with an account circulated on social media after it was sent as a private chat message by a student at the high school who said in the message that he was in the bathroom at the time Shilling was shot, but was then able to flee the killer. The Free Press spoke Thursday with that student’s father, who confirmed his son sent the chat message, but said his son had not intended that it be shared and did not want to discuss the shooting.
