CNN rushed to cover Tuesday’s school shooting in Maryland and interviewed Jonathan, a Great Mills High School senior on lockdown inside his math classroom, without confirming his statements with local police, the FBI or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
All three law enforcement bodies had responded to the shooting at Great Mills. (RELATED: Developing Situation At Great Mills High School In Maryland – Shots Fired)
Host John Berman first cut to Jonathan and called him by the wrong name, Matthew Taggert.
“That’s my teacher’s name,” the student responded. “My name is Jonathan.”
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Jonathan went on to describe that he had been on lockdown for roughly a half hour. He stated that he’d heard “about seven” people had been shot, and that he had heard that at least one student had died.
“It first started off, I heard that someone put a gun against their head, and I thought it was one person who’d gotten hurt,” he explained. “Maybe trying to get the gun? I’m not really sure.”
“That’s pretty much mainly all I know at the moment. I’m still a little shaken up. … It happened in the art hallway.”
When asked by Berman if he had heard gunshots, Jonathan stated he was “surprised [he] didn’t.”
“We’re quite a bit a ways away from the art hallway,” Jonathan continued. “But … I’m really surprised I didn’t hear it.”
“The police and everything responded really quickly,” he added. “So I’m really happy about that.”
At one point in the interview, Jonathan announced that police officers had arrived at the classroom and he needed to go. Berman asked him if he could stay on the phone while being escorted out, but Jonathan hung up the phone.
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s office announced that only two students had been injured in the incident. One female student and the shooter who is currently in critical condition.
