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William Atchison, 21, has been identified as the shooter in the Aztec High School shooting that left two students dead. San Juan County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Casey Jordan-Marquez and Francisco “Paco” Fernandez.
According to reports, William Atchison entered the Aztec High School around 9 AM local time, causing the school to be placed on lockdown. Atchison is believed to have taken his own life after shooting and killing the two Aztec students.
San Juan County Sheriff Ken Christesen said the shooting was planned out Atchison, who disguised himself as a student to get into the school. Atchison had attended Aztec High School in the past but was not enrolled at the time of the deadly shooting.
Furthermore, Christesen said that “It’s important to understand how focused he was, how deranged he was, in his intent.”
According to authorities, Atchison lived with his parents in Aztec and had worked at a gas station. Police found paper with notes was found in his garbage that had, “Work, packup, prep, walk, die” listed on it. Atchison also had a thumb drive on his person with electronic notes that officials say offer more evidence the attack was planned. In his message, Atchison wrote that “work, school and life was bad and he wanted out.”
via KOB4:
FBI officials at the conference said Atchison isn’t a complete stranger to them, after having looked into some comments he made via an online gaming forum in early 2016. They closed their brief investigation of him after determining no crime had been committed, and no specific threats made.
The sheriff added law enforcement executed search warrants in Atchison’s house as well as his computer. In that search, he said, a paper with scratch notes was found in his wastebasket that had, “Work, packup, prep, walk, die” listed on it like a schedule. Atchison also had a thumb drive on his person with electronic notes that officials say offer more evidence the attack was planned.
New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassetas said the man had one pistol and multiple magazines. The pistol was legally bought in November. He shot the first victim, 18-year-old Francisco Fernandez, in a bathroom before shooting 17-year-old Casey Marquez in the hall.
According to San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the victims were identified as Casey Jordan-Marquez and Francisco “Paco” Fernandez. More than $6,000 have been donated to the family of Casey Jordan-Marquez, who was a cheerleader at Aztec High School through YouCaring and GoFundMe. A GoFundMe account was also created for the family of Fernandez.
via CNN:
Two students were killed in a shooting Thursday at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico, state police said on their verified Twitter account, and the suspected shooter is also dead.
There were no other injuries to other students or school faculty, officials said in a news conference Thursday afternoon. The two students killed were Casey Marquez and Francisco Fernandez, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Aztec Police got a call about the shooting about 8 a.m., officials said, and students were in class at the time. Aztec is a small town in northwest New Mexico, about three hours from Albuquerque, and authorities from nearby Farmington assisted in the response to the shooting.
Aztec High School is a public high school in Aztec, New Mexico. The school colors are Black and Orange and the mascot is the Fighting Tiger.
