When a student opened fire at the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday, a teacher confronted him, according to a union official.
Marysville Education Association president Randy Davis said Saturday that first-year social studies teacher Megan Silberberger intervened in the shooting.
Detectives confirmed a school worker attempted to intervene in shooting, but provided no other details about the worker's actions.
Snohomish County sheriff's spokeswoman Shari Ireton said in a statement Saturday morning that the on-scene investigation the school north of Seattle was finished and a .40-caliber handgun had been recovered. Ireton said investigators believe that was the weapon used in the Friday morning shooting that left one girl dead.
Brian Bennett, spokesman for the Seattle Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said his agency conducted a trace of the firearm and determined "the most recent purchaser of the gun." He said he could not identify that person, adding it would be up to the local police to release that information.
Authorities said the gunman, a popular freshman at the school, fatally shot a girl before turning the gun on himself. Four other young people were badly wounded. Three remained in critical condition Saturday, and a fourth was listed in serious condition. Ireton said two other students were treated at the high school for minor wounds.
Marysville police declined to release the shooter's identity, with Chief Rick Smith insisting he did not want to "dramatize someone who perpetuated a violent crime in a place where children should feel safe."
However, two student witnesses identified him as freshman Jaylen Fryberg, and a police source confirmed Fryberg's identity to the Associated Press. The chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, of which Fryberg was a member, also made a statement Friday, acknowledging that "tribal members were involved."
Fryberg was well-liked and athletic, a football player named to his high school's homecoming court just one week ago.
He was also anguished, writing of some unspecified troubles on his Twitter feed: "It breaks me... It actually does...."
Two of the gunman's cousins were among the wounded.
Hundreds of people prayed and sang songs at a church vigil Friday night for victims and family members.
Pastor Nik Baumgart told the overflow crowd there was no script for reacting to Friday's events.
"One moment we're thinking, we can do this," Baumgart said. "Another moment, we're thinking, how can we do this?"
