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Shooter was lovesick teen

Tuesday's school shooting in southern Maryland that left the shooter dead and two students wounded increasingly appears to be the action of a lovesick teenager.

Authorities on Wednesday released a few additional details into the shooting at Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County.

Austin Rollins, 17, was killed after shooting a schoolmate, 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey. A school resource officer got there within a minute and fired a shot at Rollins, but it's not yet clear whether he was killed by the officer's bullet or took his own life.

A 14-year-old boy who was shot in the thigh during the encounter was released Wednesday from a hospital.

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that Rollins and the girl had been in a relationship that recently ended. Authorities had previously only said that the two had had a relationship of some sorts.

"All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence," police said in a statement.

St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said earlier that a precise determination of Rollins' motive may be impossible now that he is dead.

The girl, Jaelynn Willey, was still fighting for her life at the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center. A fundraising page to help Willey's family has raised more than $54,000.

Hospital spokesman Michael Schwartzberg said in an email Wednesday night that she remained in critical condition.

A day after the eruption of gun violence in one of the sleepy community's schools, the few residents who ventured out amid a snowstorm blanketing the East Coast praised the school resource officer who responded, Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill.

"He did a very, very good job," said Sharon Eglinton, manager of a cafe in nearby Leonardtown.

Eglinton, herself a Great Mills alumna, noted that Rollins was by all accounts a good student who had not shown any warning signs. She said she thinks the best way to prevent future school shootings is to install metal detectors at schools.

"I have no problem paying for it," she said. "If you can protect people getting on a plane with metal detectors, you can protect people in schools."



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