NEW BOSTON, Texas — A 20-year-old man who opened fire at Italy High School in Ellis County in 2018 has died in a Texas prison, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Chad Padilla was found unresponsive in his cell early Monday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Prison staff tried life-saving measures and he was taken to the unit's medical facility. Paramedics arrived and pronounced Padilla dead, officials said.
Padilla was staying at the Telford unit in New Boston in northeast Texas.
Prison officials notified the state Office of Inspector General about Padilla's death. The inspector general's office investigates all inmate deaths in Texas.
Padilla's cause of death has not been released.
Padilla had been sentenced in 2019 to 40 years in prison on charges of attempted capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Padilla was 16 in 2018 went he into the school's crowded cafeteria and shot a 15-year-old female classmate six times, official said. She survived.
Padilla was later certified in court as an adult and convicted the next year.
Students told WFAA that they had reported problems with Padilla to school officials before the shooting. In one incident, Padilla threw scissors at a classmate.
Padilla was expected to be eligible for parole after 20 years in prison.
Previous coverage of the Italy High School shooting:
