A 14-year-old student opened fire Wednesday at his high school in the southeastern United States, killing two students and two teachers before he was arrested, authorities said.
“The shooter has been arrested,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia State Bureau of Investigation, where the shooting took place. “He is a 14-year-old student at this high school,” he added.
The young suspect “will be charged with murder and tried as an adult,” the official said at a news conference outside Apalachee High School in the town of Winder, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Wednesday’s tragedy is part of a macabre series in the United States, which has long been hit by school and university shootings — a phenomenon unlike any other in the rest of the world.
The four people killed in Winder were two students and two teachers, Chris Hosey said. Nine people were injured, “with varying injuries,” he said.
Police intervened at the school following emergency calls made around 10:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
Confronted by a police officer assigned to security at the school, “the shooter quickly realized that if he did not surrender,” the officer was going to open fire, said Jud Smith, the local sheriff.
“He gave up, got on the ground and the officer arrested him,” he added.
Although he has already spoken to investigators, “we are not aware of any ‘particular’ target at this time.”
– Reporting in 2023 –
The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in the evening that it had issued a report in 2023 on the suspect, who had threatened on the internet to carry out shootings in a school, with photographs of weapons in support.
Following the report, the suspect was investigated by law enforcement in neighboring Winder County, but denied making the threats, while his father said the teen did not have access to weapons in the home. Local schools were also notified so the suspect would be placed under increased surveillance.
“At this time, there were no reasonable grounds for arrest or further action by law enforcement,” the FBI said in its statement.
Joe Biden has spoken out against this new tragedy, saying in a statement that the United States cannot “accept that this becomes the norm.” The Democratic president has been trying for years, without success, to further regulate access to firearms.
“We must end this epidemic of gun violence in our country, once and for all,” Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris said in a campaign speech.
His opponent, Republican Donald Trump, denounced the actions of the shooter, calling him a “sick and deranged monster.”
The state of Georgia, where the shooting took place, is one of the key states that could decide the election in November.
– Run and hide –
Stephanie Folgar, a 17-year-old student, was in class on Wednesday when she heard “loud bangs, like gunshots, in the hallway” around 10:30 a.m. She told AFP that a teacher came “and told us to run to the bathroom, into a closet, and hide.”
Many students were gathered on the lawn of the American football stadium before being able to join their families, according to images from American media.
Another student, Alexsandra Romero, said many initially thought it was an exercise, until her teacher said she had not been told about it.
“She pushed us into a corner and we all huddled together. Some of my friends were crying,” the student said.
“I never thought this would happen in a high school like mine.”
The United States is the only country in the world to be relentlessly mourned by school shootings, a scourge fueled by the spread of individual weapons.
In May 2022, 19 children and two teachers were victims of a horrific massacre at their school in Uvalde, Texas, committed by an 18-year-old man using a legally purchased assault rifle.
bur-seb-cjc-ube/rle/vgu
