Marshall County High School shooting suspect Gabriel Park, 15, faces two counts of murder and 14 counts of first-degree assault.
BENTON, Ky. — A 15-year-old Kentucky student accused of killing two and injuring more than a dozen others in a shooting at Marshall County High School last month will be tried as an adult .
Gabriel Ross Parker of Hardin is charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of first degree assault, according to a statement from the Kentucky State Police.
Officials declined to comment further.
During an arraignment Friday, Parker’s bond was set at $1.5 million.
Parker was originally charged in the Marshall County juvenile court, but prosecutors asked for the case to be moved to the county’s circuit court.
Parker, a sophomore, is accused of bringing a shotgun to Marshall County High School on Jan. 23 and firing the first shots into a crowd at about 7:57 a.m. Marshall County sheriff’s deputies took him into custody by about 8:06 a.m.
Students Bailey Nicole Holt and Preston Ryan Cope, both 15, were killed in the shooting. Twenty-one others were injured, including 14 who were shot.
Parker appeared in front of a judge two days later at the Marshall County Judicial Center in Benton, less than 5 miles from the crime scene.
Parker’s arraignment comes just two days after 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were killed by 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz. The Florida shooting hit close to home for some in Marshall County.
Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars told The (Louisville) Courier Journal he was in his office Wednesday when he found out about the shooting from a TV that was turned to a news station.
It immediately brought back the horror of the Jan. 23 shooting in Marshall County, said Byars, who apprehended the 15-year-old suspect himself.
“It was the same reaction when our event happened. I feel for that community. And I hope that their community will get the same love and prayers that our community has gotten,” he said. “I hope everybody shows them the same compassion that we were shown. I feel for (Broward County,) Sheriff (Scott) Israel.”
Marshall County Schools Superintendent Trent Lovett took to Twitter on Wednesday, saying «our thoughts and prayers are with the staff, students and first responders at Stoneman Douglas High School. We are here for you. #marshallstrong.»
Contributing: Darcy Costello of the Courier Journal. Follow Kelly Fisher on Twitter: @KellyPFisher
