4 dead, at least 9 injured in shooting at Georgia high school, authorities say

Four people were killed and at least nine were injured in a shooting at a high school outside Atlanta where students ran to seek safety in the football stadium, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.

Shots were fired Wednesday morning, and officers swarmed the campus of Apalachee High School as parents raced to find out if their children were safe at the school in Winder, Ga.

A suspect was in custody, authorities said. It was not immediately clear if the shooter was a student at the campus, Apalachee High School in Barrow County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.

“What you see behind us is an evil thing,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a brief news conference outside the school. He declined to give details about casualties or about the suspect.

The episode is just the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Conn., Parkland, Fla., and Uvalde, Texas. The killings in classrooms have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to active shooter drills in classrooms. But they have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.

Jacob King, a sophomore football player, said he had dozed off in his world history class after a morning practice when he heard about 10 gunshots.

World & Nation

Must Reads: A year after the Parkland massacre, two fathers are divided on guns but united by pain

Andrew Pollack had just settled into a folding chair in a palm-shaded campground when gunfire rang out from a nearby target range.

Feb. 13, 2019

King said he didn’t believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. King said when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student.

Few details were immediately available from authorities, who were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. to respond to an “active shooting,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Helicopter video from WSB-TV showed dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounding the school.

When Erin Clark, 42, received a text from her son Ethan that there was an active shooter, she rushed from her job at the Amazon warehouse to the school. The two texted “I love you,” and Clark said she prayed for her son as she drove.

With the main road blocked to the school, Clark parked and ran with other parents. Parents were then directed to the football field. Amid the chaos, Clark found Ethan, who just started his senior year, sitting on the bleachers.

Clark said her son was writing an essay in class when he first heard the gunshots and he worked with his classmates to barricade the door and hide.

“I’m so proud of him for doing that,” she said. “He was so brave.”

Students had started the school year only a little over a month ago.

“It makes me scared to send him back,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

California

Two guns found at LAUSD high schools, bringing total to four in the first month

Four guns have been found at L.A. schools since the start of the current school year on Aug. 12. There’s also been a stabbing and a shooting outside football games.

Aug. 29, 2024

Traffic going to the school was backed up for more than a mile as parents tried to get to their children.

“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp added.

In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta office said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Our agents are on scene coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”

The White House said President Biden has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, about the shooting and the administration will coordinate with federal, state and local officials as it receives more information.

Calls and messages to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and the school were not immediately returned.

Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County’s second-largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System. It’s named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.

In Atlanta, patrols of schools were beefed up “for the rest of the day out of an abundance of caution,” Mayor Andre Dickens said.

Amy writes for the Associated Press.