Georgia school mass shooting kills 4, injures 9; suspect in custody
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The Barrow County Sheriff's Office says one suspect is in custody, and CNN cites an anonymous source saying that the suspect was 14 years old.
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Law enforcement arrives at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4. (AP)
Four people were killed and nine others were injured in a shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday just weeks after classes began.
A suspect was taken into custody, law enforcement officials said.
The shooting is a striking warning to students, instructors, and parents about the dangers of gun violence at schools and universities around the country.
The shooter at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, killed four people and sent nine more to the hospital with injuries, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Barrow County Sheriff's Office stated that one suspect was in custody, and according to an anonymous source cited by CNN, the suspect is 14 years old.
"What we see behind us is an evil thing today," Sheriff Jud Smith expressed in a news briefing at the school.
Smith would not confirm that people were killed, saying only there were "multiple injuries" in the shooting.
Local television stations showed photos of parents lined up in cars on a road outside the school, trying to reconnect with their children.
A witness, student Sergio Caldera, told ABC News that he heard gunshots while in chemistry class. Caldera, 17, told ABC that as his instructor opened the door, another teacher raced in and begged her to close it "because there's an active shooter."
As kids and instructors huddled in the room, someone hammered on the classroom door and yelled repeatedly for it to be opened. When the hammering stopped, Caldera heard more gunfire and screaming. He stated that his class eventually fled to the school's football field.
🚨#Breaking: News: Georgia School Shooting
— Wesley Marius (@WesleyMarius) September 4, 2024
A tragic shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, has left two dead and four injured. The incident occurred around 10:23 AM, leading to a swift response from local law enforcement and the FBI. The suspect is now in custody.… pic.twitter.com/6HaMEf2zyo
Aerial TV shots showed six ambulances outside the high school, and CNN reported that a victim was carried into a medical helicopter.
"Multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting," according to the sheriff's office.
The White House stated that President Joe Biden has been updated on the shooting "and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information."
"Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed," Biden said in a statement, urging both Republicans and Democrats to implement "common-sense gun safety legislation."
The shooting was the first "planned attack" at a school this autumn, according to David Reidman, who manages the K-12 School Shooting Database.
In the last two decades, the US has experienced hundreds of shootings within schools and universities, the bloodiest of which resulted in over 30 deaths at Virginia Tech in 2007. The slaughter has triggered a fierce discussion about the US gun restrictions and the US Constitution's Second Amendment, which enshrines the right to keep and bear arms.
