Two 15-year-old girls fatally shoot each other in Phoenix-area school

Two 15-year-old girls died Friday in a shooting at
a suburban Phoenix high school that initially
caused panic among parents who could not
reach their children but later emerged as a
murder-suicide.
However, officers did not reveal any details of
what the note said, and did not discuss what
they believe the motivation for the killings may
have been.
Officers also refused to name the pair, though
school teacher Phong Kieu earlier named one of
the victims as her sister, May Kieu.
Phong, who teaches science at the school, told
ABC 15 she put on the news in her classroom
after hearing about the shooting.
'We were watching the live footage and it
first said two students,and after half an
hour it said two female students, and
then it said two sophomore students,' she
said.
'My students were on their phones and
were friends with her. And one of the
students said it was May and her friend.
'That's when I called attendance and I
asked for my sister's schedule. They put
me on hold for 10 minutes and that's
when I knew something was wrong.
'I was escorted from my classroom with
one of the vice principals. He held my
hand and told me we had to go upstairs. I
walked up and I walked past so many
people looking at me and they knew what
happened.
'That's when they told me. My sister's
gone. They confirmed it and she's not
coming back.'

Police announced that a suicide note was found
at the shooting scene near the cafeteria area of
Independence High School in Glendale. They said
the girls each were shot once, were declared
dead at the scene and a weapon was found near
the bodies.
"Information gathered by detectives reveal
the two girls were very close friends,
appeared to also be in a relationship,"
Glendale police spokeswoman Tracey
Breeden said in a statement Friday
afternoon.
Breeden said it is believed nobody witnessed the
shooting.
Both teens have been identified, but Breeden
said "their names will not be confirmed or
released at this time by the police department
due to their juvenile status."
Hours before the lockdown of the school was
lifted, hundreds of worried parents crowded the
parking lots of nearby discount and convenience
stores.

Parents were bused to the school to be reunited
with their children. Some cut through a nearby
field as they rushed toward their kids in
emotional reunions. Other students who got
permission from their parents left campus on
their own.
The Glendale Union High School District alerted
parents to the shooting through emails and
automatic phone calls and released information
on social media, Superintendent Brian Capistran
said.
Students typically are not allowed to use their
cellphones during lockdowns, but as calls from
parents flooded the district, officials asked
teachers to have students call family, Capistran
said.
Social workers and counselors will be available
to students and staff when school resumes
Tuesday, the superintendent said.
Minnie Kramer, mother of a 15-year-old student,
said she rushed out of work when she got a text
from her son right after the shooting, telling her
that he was OK.