Nevada School Shooter IDed

Name emerged in Univision report
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2013 8:41 PM CDT
Updated Oct 25, 2013 5:04 AM CDT
Nevada School Shooter IDed
Hundreds of students and residents attend a candlelight vigil at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev., on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013.   (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

The city of Sparks, Nevada, has released the name of the 12-year-old who killed a teacher and wounded two students in a school shooting: Jose Reyes. The city had previously refused to identify the boy, though the Reno Gazette-Journal asserted it should do so in accordance with state public records laws. Then a Univision story identified the shooter. Because the report received wide coverage—and in an effort to do right by families involved, as well as the press—the city decided to confirm Reyes' identity.

Students have told the paper they knew him by sight, and that he had friends, but was shy. They said he enjoyed video games. Other reports have suggested he was bullied, but one of the shooting victims, in an interview with CNN, argues otherwise.

  • "I don't think he was being bullied at all ... because if he was being bullied and I saw it, I would have stuck up for him. I was one of his friends," says a boy identified only as Mason. He says he doesn't believe Reyes specifically targeted the kids who were shot. Mason's mother, meanwhile, says she feels for Reyes' parents (who could see charges). "They lost their son, their baby," she says. "They're 12-year-old boys ... they have no idea what they're doing."
(More Sparks, Nevada stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X