10/25/2014 Jaylen Fryberg: From homecoming prince to school killer - CNN.com

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(CNN) -- One week ago, Jaylen Fryberg stood tall as part of hishigh school's homecoming court, spurring his fellow students tocheer.

On Friday, he brought them to tears.

There's a jarring disparity between the celebratory scene on thesidelines of Marysville-Pilchuck High School's football field and thehorrific, later one inside the Washington state school's cafeteria.Fryberg was center of attention both times: first as one of hisschool's most popular students, then as a student whoeyewitnesses said shot his peers, killing one of them, before turninghis gun on himself.

As classmate Jordan Luton, among others, said: "Nobody wouldhave expected it from him."

2 dead, including gunman, in school shooting

For some, high school can be a hard place to be widelyembraced. But not for Fryberg, according to studentsthere.

The scene at halftime of Marysville-Pilchuck HighSchool's October 17 football game with Arlington HighSchool is testament.

There stood Fryberg, looking dapper in a tie, vest andsneakers, with his long hair tied up tightly. A schoolmatenoted Fryberg played football and planned to try out soonfor wrestling; then people in the stands applauded him,with enthusiastic whistles and yells of admiration thrownin for good measure.

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Jaylen Fryberg: From homecomingprince to school killerBy Greg Botelho, CNNupdated 9:13 PM EDT, Fri October 24, 2014

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The occasion was Fryberg being named the freshmen's"Homecoming Prince," joining others in Marysville-Pilchuck High School's royal court. Friend and fellowstudent Nate Heckendorf explained that this honor means"a lot of people had good hopes for him and thought thebest of him."

"That (title) means ... teachers like you. Your peers likeyou," said Rachel Heichel, another freshman. "You're aperson that everyone likes and a good person."

All those applied to Fryberg, according to Heichel.

"He was a people person," she said. "... He was just areally nice kid and all-around good person."

An avid outdoorsman

Fryberg was more than a beloved student or talented athlete.

He was a proud Native American. According to his social mediaaccounts, he belonged to the Tulalip tribe, which runs a resortcasino in Marysville, a city of 60,000 located 30 miles north ofSeattle.

A fellow tribe member and local CrossFit coach told CNN affiliateKIRO that the teenager was not only "very nice," but ambitious --such that he might have one day become a tribal leader.

Fryberg was an avid outdoorsman who liked to go hunting and hadguns. Just three months ago, he posted a picture to Instagram ofhimself holding a rifle, along with the words: "Probably the bestBirthDay present ever! I just love my parents!!!"

Schoolmates and his social media accounts suggest that all was nothappy with Fryberg, especially soon before the shooting.

Luton said that, a few weeks ago, Fryberg got into a fight withsomeone who "said something racist to him."

Heckendorf elaborated "there was bullying involved and a couplewords said towards him that he obviously didn't like," noting thatFryberg got suspended after the fight. A federal law enforcementsource also said he'd been suspended.

That's not to say, as Heckendorf and others stressed,that this altercation necessarily had anything to do withwhat happened Friday. Police have not formally identifiedthe attacker.

Looking to social media for possible clues

Other potential clues might lie in Fryberg's Twitter feed,which hints at a breakup with a girlfriend in recentmonths. It also includes a post from Tuesday saying, "Itbreaks me... It actually does... I know it seems like I'msweating it off... But I'm not.. And I never will be able to."

His final Tweet, on Thursday, was much shorter: "It won'tlast.... It'll never last...."

That same day, Luton said he talked to Fryberg atfootball practice "and he was all fine."

And Heckendorf chatted with him even more recently, onFriday morning, asking Fryberg how he was doing andoffering him his ear whenever needed.

"And he said, 'OK, thank you,'" Heckendorf said. "We did a little

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handshake, and he was off. He looked pretty content withlife."

All these impressions, all these interactions made whathappened later that morning in Marysville-Pilchuck HighSchool cafeteria more shocking.

Heichel was there when Fryberg apparently went up to aspot a few tables away and fired his gun. When she heard moreshots, she turned around and "saw him standing there ... the gun inhis hand."

"When I saw him, I was like, 'Oh my God, that's Jaylen,'" she said. "Iwould have never expected it would have been him, out of allpeople.

"It was really heartbreaking for me to see that."

CNN's Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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