Moms: Wounded sons were not targets in Nev.

Associated Press

SPARKS, Nev.

The parents of the two boys wounded by a seventh-grader who fatally shot their teacher before turning a semiautomatic handgun on himself said Wednesday they don’t believe their children were targeted in the schoolyard rampage.

Police were interviewing dozens of students who witnessed the shooting as investigators continued to try to unravel the mystery of what motivated the shooter, whom they still have not identified two days after he took his own life on an asphalt basketball court outside Sparks Middle School.

Sparks police Lt. Erick Thomas said investigators still don’t know whether the shooting spree 15 minutes before the start of school Monday was random or targeted specific individuals.

But parents of the two 12-year-olds recovering from gunshot wounds said they don’t think they were singled out. One said her son was trying to help the dying teacher, Michael Landsberry, when he was shot in the abdomen with a bullet that exited his back.

“We do not believe he was in any way the target in this shooting,” Jenifer Davis told reporters outside Renown Regional Medical Center, where she said her son Mason was “doing well ... in good spirits, although saddened by the loss of his friend, Mr. Landsberry.”

“From what we’ve learned from others at the scene, Mason’s first instinct was to intervene and he did all he could to help Mr. Landsberry,” she said.

A parent of the other boy, who was shot in the shoulder, declined to be identified or speak with reporters but said in a statement released by the hospital, “We do not believe our son was a target in this shooting.”

Students, staff, local church leaders and others planned a candlelight vigil Wednesday night outside the school.

Investigators have confirmed the 12-year-old shooter acted alone, Thomas said.