A teenage girl who was shot when a classmate opened fire inside their Maryland high school has died, authorities say.
The St Mary's County Sheriff's Office says Jaelynn Willey, 16, died at 11.34pm local time on Thursday.
Earlier that night, her family said she would be taken off life support at the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center. Melissa Willey told news reporters her daughter was brain dead and had "no life left in her".
The mother, holding a young baby, said, "On Tuesday ... our lives changed completely and totally forever. My daughter was hurt by a boy who shot her in the head and took everything from our lives."
Melissa and Daniel Willey said on Thursday, March 22, 2018, that they planned to take their daughter, Jaelynn, off life support. Source: Getty
The teen was shot on Tuesday by 17-year-old Austin Rollins at Great Mills High School in St Mary's County.
Rollins died after shooting Willey. A school resource officer got there within a minute and fired a shot at Rollins, but it's not yet clear whether Rollins was killed by the officer's bullet or took his own life.
The St Mary's County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday Rollins and the girl had been in a relationship that recently ended.
"All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence," police said in a statement.
Willey had been in critical condition at the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center. A fundraising page to help her family has raised more than $US77,000.
Jaelynn was one of nine siblings, her mother said, and a member of the swim team.
A teenager armed with a handgun shot and critically wounded Willey inside a Maryland school on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Source: AAP
The shooting broke out just before classes were to begin on Tuesday, according to the sheriff's office, which said the gun used belonged to Rollins' father.
A 14-year-old boy who was shot in the thigh during the encounter was released on Wednesday from a hospital.
In an email Thursday to The Associated Press, his mother, Kimberly Dennis, said her family is "eternally grateful" that her son, Desmond Barnes, is "alive, doing well and in good spirits".
St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron credited Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill with preventing any more loss of life.
Cameron said Gaskill, a six-year veteran with SWAT team training, responded within a minute and fired his weapon simultaneously with a final shot fired by Rollins. The officer was unharmed.
