FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — One of three Northern Arizona University fraternity members wounded in a campus shooting had never met the student suspected of opening fire on the group, the victim’s mother said Saturday.
Kimberly Prato said she asked her son, Nicholas, who shot him. “He said, ‘Mom, I don’t know the kid. I never saw him before in my life,’ ” Prato told The Associated Press. “He said, ‘I saw him for a second and then saw a flashlight and heard the gunshots.’ “
Nicholas Prato suffered a gunshot wound to his neck in the early Friday shooting but was released by afternoon.
The other two victims, Kyle Zientek and Nicholas Piring, remain hospitalized.
Authorities say freshman Steven Jones opened fire with a .40-caliber handgun after a brawl erupted between two groups of students.
Student Colin Brough, a graduate of Castle View High School, was killed.
All four victims belonged to Delta Chi fraternity.
Brough’s father, Doug Brough, visited a makeshift memorial at the shooting site Saturday.
Brough, of Castle Rock, told The Arizona Republic that he didn’t understand why an 18-year-old had a pistol in his car. “The only thing I have to say is somebody needs to do something about the gun laws.”
