ST. LOUIS — Officials said the suspect from Monday’s fatal shooting at Central VPA did not enter the building at a check point and had more than 600 rounds of ammunition on him.
Nineteen-year-old Orlando Harris who was a 2021 graduate of Central Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) is the suspected gunman behind the deadly shooting at his former school, according to police.
He is accused of killing a 61-year-old teacher, a 15-year-old student, and injuring several other students Monday morning. Police struck him down and was transported to a hospital where he died.
In a press conference Tuesday, St. Louis Metropolitan Interim Police Chief Michael Sack said the suspect used an AR-15 style rifle during the incident and had what appeared to be 600 rounds of ammunition. Police said Harris had seven magazines of ammunition around his chest and eight magazines of ammunition in bag that he carried. That did not include the number of magazines found on the stairway and corridors.
“This could have been much worse,” said the interim police chief.
Security guards who patrol the school are not armed and were not armed at the time of the shooting, according to DeAndre Davis, director of safety and security for St. Louis Public Schools.
The school in south St. Louis was locked, with seven security guards at the doors, St. Louis Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said. A security guard initially became alarmed when he saw Harris trying to get in one of the doors. He was armed with a gun and “there was no mystery about what was going to happen. He had it out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner," Sack said.
That guard alerted school officials and made sure police were contacted.
Sack said detectives found a hand-written-note in the car that suspect drove that details the suspect’s desire to conduct a school shooting.
A portion from the note states, “I don’t have any friends. I don’t have any family. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I’ve never had a social life. I’ve been an isolated loner my entire life. This was the perfect storm for a mass shooting.”
Sack urged people to come forward when someone who appears to suffer from mental illness or distress begins “speaking about purchasing firearms or causing harm to others.”
The investigation in ongoing.
Below is the full press conference: