High school sophomore Nathaniel Jouett is in police custody after allegedly killing two people and injuring four more in Monday’s mass shooting at a public library in Clovis, N.M., KOB 4 reports.
While his motive remains unclear, investigators found that the teen had a troubled past. Jouett began using drugs at the age of 13, and reportedly suffered from abuse from someone outside his family. (RELATED: Multiple People Killed In New Mexico Public Library Shooting)
Jouett had allegedly experienced trouble at school the Friday before the shooting. He had gotten in a fight at school, and had been suspended along with another boy, according to KOB 4.
He reportedly walked into the Clovis-Carver Public Library Monday and began shooting.
“Run! Why aren’t you running? I’m shooting at you! Run!” eyewitness Lisa Baird told The Eastern New Mexico News the gunman yelled at her.
Despite his history, Jouett reportedly seemed to be on a different path, thanks to the influence of his girlfriend and her father David Stevens, a pastor at a local church.
“It doesn’t even register,” Stevens told the Albuquerque Journal. “We had no idea that he had anything like that in him.”
Jouett began attending Stevens’ church about three months before the shooting, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
“So I have been baptized back in 2 church tonight I gave my testimoney [sic] and it was alot [sic] harder than I thought but after words I have this overwhelming joy thank you 2 the church for making it feel like home,” Jouett posted on his Facebook page Aug. 14.
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