Inside, a Basketball Game; Outside, a Shooting

2 teens shot outside Frederick High School in Maryland
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2015 10:58 AM CST
Inside, a Basketball Game; Outside, a Shooting
People gather outside the entrance to Frederick High School following a shooting in Frederick, Md., Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.   (AP Photo/The Frederick News-Post, Bill Green)

Two teens were shot outside a basketball game at Frederick High School in Maryland last night, and as of this morning police were still looking for the shooter or shooters, who are believed to have escaped on foot. "Gunshots going off around a gym packed with kids," is how a police officer described the 8pm scene. "You can imagine, everybody's running." Students told investigators they saw four or five males in big coats, hands in pockets, walk into the gym during the game and leave just before shots were fired, NBC Washington reports. The victims were boys aged 14 and 15, but it's not clear what school or schools they attend, the Washington Post reports.

Police are looking into various motives—possibilities include gang-related violence or a rivalry between the two teams (the other school playing was Gov. Thomas Johnson High, the Baltimore Sun reports). "You would expect it to happen at a varsity game, but it was like a JV game," one sophomore tells Fox News. "Nobody hardly comes to those." The injuries to the two students were not believed to be life-threatening. The rest of the students at the school were released after a two-hour lockdown; the high school as well as a nearby middle school are closed today. Frederick has been named one of the most secure American cities, and Frederick County borders some of the richest counties in the US. (More school shooting stories.)

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