Suspect Teah Wimberly
Sources close to the victim and suspect tell us that the argument that led to the murder centered around Wimberly’s desire to date Collette who was not interested:
A 10th-grader was fatally shot as classes were underway at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday afternoon, and another 15-year-old armed with a chrome, semiautomatic handgun was arrested shortly afterward, authorities said.
The victim, identified as Amanda Collette, was rushed to Broward General Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, both police and school district officials confirmed. She was shot in the torso, authorities said.
Amanda Collette
The shooting suspect, a sophomore named Teah Wimberly, was being questioned - with her grandfather by her side - at police headquarters and has not yet been charged.
Broward Superintendent Jim Notter called the incident isolated, adding that the school community was “devastated.” He said counselors were at the school assisting students. He also mentioned that the school was equipped with metal detectors, but the detectors aren’t used on a routine basis to search students as they enter the building.
“We are more than heartbroken,” Notter said.
There was no immediate motive known, but detectives were reviewing security cameras in the school to help with the probe.
At the hospital, Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Charlotte Rodstrom said the girl’s parents visited their daughter briefly, then left to go pick up their other children to take them to the hospital. A room has been set up at the hospital for grieving family and friends.
“I’ve raised three children in this community and this is very disturbing,” Rodstrom said.
Meanwhile, parents started trickling to the school shortly after rumors of a shooting started circulating.
Peggi Hanson came to pick up her 16-year-old daughter. “She’s a nervous wreck,” said Hanson, who spoke to her daughter via cellphone. “She said, `I just want to get out of here.’
“This is crazy. They’ve got to have better security on this campus.”
Paige Priester, a Dillard junior, said the girl who was shot was a friend of a friend. “It’s just scary that you can’t even be safe at your own school.”
Her mother, Bobbie Priester, said: “She doesn’t want to come back here. My child comes to a school and could be killed all of a sudden.”
Notter noted that the school does not have a history of violence. The school, at 2501 NW 11th St., recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and has a top football team. It has an enrollment of 1,742 students.
Details are sketchy, but the victim was found unresponsive in a hallway outside of the computer lab about 11 a.m.
Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4 obtained footage of the victim being wheeled into Broward General Medical Center shortly before noon. Paramedics and doctors were seen trying to resuscitate the girl, who was wearing a purple shirt and khaki shorts.
Wimberly was arrested shortly after the shooting at Captain Crab’s Take-Away restaurant, 2431 W. Sunrise Boulevard.
According to police, a student approached a school resource officer at 11 a.m., saying Amanda was lying in the hallway.
Fire rescue and police responded.
She was rushed to the hospital. Initially, police said they were unsure if she was shot, saying that a ”full-body evaluation” had not been completed yet.
Wimberly called 911 from the restaurant to report that she had shot her friend, police said. Officers found her with a chrome, semiautomatic handgun.
Dillard High, an arts and technology magnet school, was on lockdown as police investigated. Classes are in progress, police said.
Police say the incident was ”isolated” and only involved the two girls.
Miami Herald staff writers Diana Moskovitz, Todd Wright, Nirvi Shah, Robert Samuels and freelancer R.C. White contributed to this report.
