Days after her daughter was gunned down in the school cafeteria, Michelle Galasso did something incredible: She hugged the suicidal killer's mom and told her she loved her. "She's hurting. She's grieving. She lost her child as well," Galasso told NBC station King 5 in an emotional interview about how her life changed when 14-year-old daughter Zoe was shot dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School on Oct. 24.
The gunman, 14-year-old homecoming prince Jaylen Fryberg, lured his victims to his lunch table by text messages, then methodically shot five of them before killing himself, police say. Only one teen survived. The motive is still unknown, and the shooter has been described as one of the most popular students in the school. Michelle Galasso said she watched Fryberg grow up in the tight-knit community outside Seattle, and she refuses to bear malice toward him. "In order for me to heal from this, I have to forgive because I cannot waste my life hating or being angry. I just can't," she said. "I'll never know why he did it and he took away one of the best things that I ever brought into this world, but he's a child too."
IN-DEPTH
- Fourth Marysville School Shooting Victim Dies
- 'Loved By So Many': Marysville Student Mourned
- Shooter Lured Victims to Lunch Table With Texts