A juvenile was arrested and charged with murder after an eighth-grader was fatally shot near her school in Montgomery, Alabama, police said.
Jaquerria Timmons, 14, was shot once in the chest at around 3:15 p.m. Monday about 500 feet from Bellingrath Middle School, police said. She was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
There was no confrontation that preceded the shooting, and the handgun was not at school during the day, police said.
Instead, the handgun was introduced to a group of students by an outside individual who did not attend Bellingrath, police said. The weapon was fired one time, police said.
Investigators interviewed a number of witnesses and arrested a juvenile suspect on Monday night.
"There are many loose ends that police are still working to tie up," the Montgomery Police Department said in a statement. "We are working within the juvenile justice system, and we cannot release additional information regarding the suspect for that reason."
The superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools called the shooting a tragedy.
"We offer sympathy and support to the family," Margaret Allen said in a statement, "and we pray that God will guide our community out of the troubling social ills that are hurting our children."
