A 15-year-old Joppatowne High School student died after being shot in the chest Friday during an altercation in the school, according to Harford County authorities, who arrested a 16-year-old suspect.
Warren Curtis Grant died in a hospital Friday afternoon after being shot during the dispute in a first-story bathroom, Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said at a Friday afternoon news conference. Police did not identify the suspect, a 16-year-old Joppatowne High student, noting they would release his name once he is formally charged as an adult, which Gahler said could be expected later Friday or Saturday morning.
Officers responded to the school at about 12:36 p.m. after the single shot struck the teenaged victim in the chest, Gahler said. The suspect fled the school grounds, and Grant was dragged out of the bathroom by other students. The wounded 15-year-old was tended to by school personnel, including a nurse, a resource officer and Principal Melissa Williams, before being airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in serious condition, Gahler said during another news conference earlier Friday afternoon.
Gahler said later that he was notified of the student’s death shortly after the initial news conference in the parking lot of Redner’s Warehouse Market. His family was notified at the hospital, he said.
The shooting took place shortly after a class change near the principal’s office, said Harford County Superintendent Sean Bulson.
In brief remarks following Gahler’s, Williams said her thoughts and prayers were with the family and friends of Grant, who she described as an “amazing young man,” as well as the school’s students and staff.
“Joppatowne is a loving and strong community who will without a doubt rally around our families, support one another and continue to support our community and our families,” she said.
The suspect was “quickly” apprehended after traveling a “short distance away to some houses,” and residents called the police, Gahler said, also noting that Friday was the suspect student’s first day attending school, despite Tuesday being the first day of classes for Harford County Public Schools.
Bulson remarked about the “sea of lights” from emergency responders that he saw after arriving after the shooting.
“Our hearts are breaking for the victim, and this victim’s family,” Bulson said, thanking first responders. “The circumstances are absolutely terrible, and this should not be happening in schools.”
Just two days before the shooting in Joppatowne, a 14-year-old student opened fire at a Georgia high school, killing two students and two teachers.
“We prepare for things like this, but it’s never the same as when it actually happens,” he said.
Parents with worried looks rushed through the grass to get to a reunification center at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church where students waited to get picked up. School staff in light purple shirts manned lines separated in alphabetical order, communicating by walkie-talkie and shouting out the names of different students.
People waited from the front door down to the parking lot of the church, many on the phone, some holding young children. Law enforcement officers stood by as the sun beat down and some people passed out water bottles.
As students came out, some were met with tears and big hugs. Others were on the phone.
Daniel Cornitcher, a junior, said students had to wait in line to get into the church after leaving the school. He said some students were told to walk through the woods to get to the church.
The incident happened during the third lunch period, Cornitcher said. He decided to take his lunch in his classroom, which is near the cafeteria and the main exit, he said, but was instead rushed into an office.
While huddling together and hiding, Cornitcher said they were able to see about 20 to 30 sheriff and state trooper patrol cars arrive through a window.
Cornitcher said communication was unclear at first. Students weren’t aware of what was happening, he said, and initially thought it was a stabbing or “a really big fight.”
“We did see a lot of people run out,” Cornitcher said. Students scattered as others broke down from emotions in front of the school’s steps.
Closer to 1:13 p.m., the students were told to leave their belongings and “get out, get out,” Cornitcher said. He walked to the reunification area.
“I don’t believe everybody fully took it seriously until the rumors of it being a gun really got around,” Cornitcher said, noting that if communication was more clear, “we would have had a better shot at knowing what the safe move was to do.”
Afternoon traffic was snared by the shooting, with a series of roads closed as distraught parents made their way to the church and the school. Reunification is “one of the hardest parts of any significant issue like this,” Bulson said.
Mandy Mcready waited near Redner’s Market in the early afternoon for updates on when she could pick up her son, a tenth grader at Joppatowne High. The shooting took place “right outside his classroom,” she said.
“He’s very shaken up,” she said.
Jamie Myers said that she had received an email and a voicemail to pick up her son at the church, but she was unable to get to him quickly.
“We can’t get to them yet, it’s so frustrating for us and frustrating for them,” she said.
When the reunification process had mostly wrapped up at around 3 p.m., school staff walked back to a corner near the school, waiting for the OK to reenter, and later got approval to head to their cars. Sheriff’s deputies stood outside of the apartments across the street from the school as an officer led a search dog around one area.
Bulson said Friday afternoon that school officials had not decided on an exact approach for school on Monday, but noted that “a great deal of support,” including counseling will be available.
Some roads near the school were still closed later Friday afternoon as police continued to investigate the shooting, which had at that point, become a homicide. Gahler said that there was “overwhelming evidence” linking that 16-year-old suspect to the shooting, but police had not yet located a firearm and detectives had not determined what prompted the altercation.
The sheriff said investigators had not interviewed the suspect, bemoaning a state law requiring for juveniles to consult with an attorney about their rights before being interrogated by police.
“There are families of every other student at that school, and the parents of the shooter, who have a right to know why we all stand here today,” Gahler, a Republican, said.
The sheriff said the teenage suspect was known to police from prior interactions, later adding that the sheriff’s office had handled more than 10 “incidents” since 2022 where he had was listed as a victim, witness or suspect. He also said there was an “incident involving some Joppatowne High School students” on Thursday, but he had not heard the event was related.
Reporters Tony Roberts and Matt Hubbard contributed to this article.
