MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Family and friends are mourning a middle-schooler shot and killed in Moses Lake over the weekend.
14-year-old Mario Amezcua was killed in a drive-by shooting on March 21, according to Amezcua’s family.
Four others were also shot, including two 17-year-olds and one 12-year-old.
Amezcua died at the scene. The four other victims were hospitalized and are expected to survive.
Police said none of the victims have any gang affiliation or were involved in criminal activity.
The shooting happened on Loop Drive, just down the street from Knolls Vista Elementary.
“It’s gut-wrenching. No parent should be in this position,” said Martha Curiel, Moses Lake parent and family-friend of Amezcua.
“It’s very disturbing to know that we are starting to see gun violence more and more and more in our small town of Moses Lake,” she said.
Bryzen Lyons attends Frontier Middle School, where Amezcua was a student. They knew each other. Lyons also lives just a few houses down from where the shooting took place.
“I feel kind of like I want to stay inside now, and like just kind of sad,” he said.
Frontier Middle School provided extra security and support staff to help students struggling with the loss of their classmate.
“It just makes the entire community hurt. Anyone who knows and went to school with this big, beautiful family knows that they are a very, very family- oriented family. It’s absolutely devastating,” Curiel said.
MLPD seized an unoccupied suspect vehicle on Friday and served a search warrant in relation to the shooting on Saturday at a home on Buell Drive.
As of Monday night, police have not yet released any information about the shooter or any arrests.
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