Two students have been charged in a shooting at a school in suburban Minneapolis that left one student dead and another critically injured,
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Alfredo Rosario Solis, 19, and Fernando Valdez-Alvarez, 18, both of Minneapolis, have been charged with murder and attempted second-degree murder in connection with the shooting outside South Education Center in Richfield.
Police say 15-year-old sophomore Jahmari Rice was killed in the Tuesday gunfire. A 17-year-old student was shot in the chest and is in critical condition at a local hospital. A 19-year-old student suffered minor injuries from the incident, but police say the wounds were not from the gunfire. The identity of surviving students has not been disclosed.
The two suspects and three victims all attended South Education Center and were acquaintances, police say.
Based on accounts to police from staff members on the scene and the less seriously wounded student:
All five students were walking out of the school during the noon hour, when "there was a short confrontation in the parking lot" and the 17-year-old punched Solis once. Valdez-Alvarez pulled a gun from his pocket and started shooting.
Solis and Valdez-Alvarez ran to an SUV as the other three ran toward the school. As Valdez-Alvarez drove off with Solis with him, several more shots were fired from the vehicle and hit Rice as he ran toward the school.
The complaint did not say who fired the shots from the SUV.
South Education Center is operated by Intermediate District 287 and serves about 200 students from pre-K through age 21 in special education and alternative learning programs.
