Shots rang out at a high school in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday, September 4, with witnesses reporting casualties and police announcing an arrest. Four deaths were reported by local authorities.
Multiple emergency vehicles and a large police presence were dispatched to the scene at Apalachee High School in the town of Winder, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. A suspect was arrested, according to state police.
President Joe Biden is being kept informed of developments, the White House said.
The school was initially placed on lockdown, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
The injured were being treated on site by rescuers, the channel said, based on images taken from a helicopter.
Agents at work
Local, state and federal police officers are working, authorities said.
The students were then evacuated from the school, or gathered on the site of a sports field, according to other aerial images broadcast by media.
“My teacher opened the door (to the classroom) to see what was happening. Then another teacher came running and told her to close the door because there was a shooter,” said a 17-year-old student, Sergio Caldera, quoted by ABC.
With the door locked, he and his comrades then took refuge at the back of the room, from where they heard screams ringing out from outside.
The United States is the only developed country in the world to be regularly plagued by school shootings, a scourge fueled by the spread of individual weapons.
- BFMTV.com
