Last week, a school shooting in Washington left three dead and five critically wounded.
The shooter - 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg - died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Sadly, incidents such as the Marysville High School rampage are all too common in American schools these days, with the most recent taking place at Reynolds High School just four months ago.
Fryberg's attack marks the 11th pre-meditated school shooting since the Sandy Hook massacre in December of 2012.
It's a story most Americans know all too well at this point, but there are several ways in which the Fryberg tragedy stands out as unique.
By all accounts, Jaylen Fryberg was not an angry loner, but a well-liked student athlete.
Unlike previous school shooters, he didn't target bullies or those more popular than himself. Instead he attacked his own friends, and even one of his cousins.
Jaylen was elected Homecoming Prince just weeks before the shooting and was described as happy and outgoing by his friends and classmates.
Perhaps that's why students have been more open in sharing fond memories of the troubled young man.
A makeshift memorial has sprung up at a chainlike fence outside of the Marysville-Pilchuck High School campus and to the surprise of many, one section features an outpouring of grief and sympathy for Jaylen Fryberg:
"Jaylen, you're an amazing kid, I love you," reads one message scrawled on a Mylar balloon.
"Jaylen, I may not have known you well, but I've heard nothing but great things about you," reads another note.
Other messages written by students include:
"Jaylen, wheres do I begin? You were my brother, my best friend. I love you, bro!"
"Jaylen, I will never forget your beautiful smile."
"Zoe and Jaylen! You guys will be missed terribly."
The last message refers to 14-year-old Zoe Galasso who was the first to die in the shooting.
On social media and in comment boards across the Internet, many have expressed their belief that it's inappropriate to honor Fryberg's life in the same place where family and friends pay tribute to those he murdered.
Others have pointed out, however, that it's only when we acknowledge the tragedy of a young man feeling compelled to commit such an atrocity that we can hope to get to the root cause of such once-unimaginable behavior.
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