Shooting at Georgia high school leaves at least four dead
Students and staff gather next to the football field after law enforcement officers responded to a fatal shooting at Apalachee High School in a still image from aerial video in Winder, Georgia on September 4. Photo: Reuters
At least four people were killed in a shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday, CNN reported. One suspect was in custody, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
In addition to the four killed, dozens of people were injured in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, CNN said, citing unnamed law enforcement officers briefed on the incident. Not all injuries appeared to be gunshot wounds, but rather also people hurt while fleeing.
The incident appeared to be under control and students were being released at midday, a Barrow County Schools spokesperson said.
Live aerial TV images showed several ambulances outside of the high school. CNN said it witnessed a patient being loaded into a medical helicopter that had landed at the school.
“At approximately 10:23am, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
The FBI field office in Atlanta dispatched agents to the high school to support local law enforcement, said Jenna Sellitto, a spokeswoman for the office.
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting "and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information."
The US has seen hundreds of shootings inside schools and colleges in the past two decades, with the deadliest resulting in over 30 deaths at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carnage has sparked pitched debate over the US gun laws and the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which enshrines the right “to keep and bear arms.”