West Liberty-Salem schools to resume classes Tuesday

Hearing expected today for suspect in Champaign County school shooting

Classes at West Liberty-Salem schools will resume Tuesday, Superintendent Kraig Hissong said in a statement released Sunday. The schools have been closed since Friday morning, when two students were injured in a shooting at the high school.

“Moving forward, the district is committed to providing a safe learning environment for our students,” Hissong wrote. “Review of safety and security procedures will be ongoing to continue to do all that is reasonably possible to prevent future incidents and to learn from what has occurred.”

The district will be on a one-hour delay on Tuesday, with school starting at 8:35 a.m for middle and high school students and at 8:40 a.m. for elementary students.

Hissong’s statement also said the district would be meeting with staff today and before school begins Tuesday.

Ely Ray Serna, 17, the suspect in the shooting, is expected to have an initial hearing in Champaign County Juvenile Court today.

Serna was taken into custody Friday and is being held in a juvenile detention center. On Saturday, prosecutors said Serna may be tried as an adult in Champaign County Common Pleas Court.

Prosecutors have said Serna will face 13 charges, including attempted murder, felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone and inducing panic.

According to the West Liberty-Salem’s wrestling team’s Facebook page, Serna is a member of the school’s wrestling team and had participated in a competition as recently as the weekend before the shooting, where he won the 170-pound championship.

Serna’s Facebook page has limited access, but shows an updated profile picture of a dog, with the caption “the light of my life.” The photo was uploaded Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the student who was most seriously injured in the shooting, 16-year-old Logan Cole, continues to improve, according to family members.

Saturday night, Ryan Cole posted on Facebook that his son had been removed from the intensive care unit and would be able to have visitors, thanks to his improving condition.

“He would love to see any of his friends that are able to visit him,” he wrote.

Cole, who is being treated at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, suffered lung damage from shotgun pellets, multiple bone breaks and fractures and teeth that were damaged when he fell to the floor, according to his family.

A second student, whose identity has not been released, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

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