BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — Four people were killed and nine people were hospitalized in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County on Wednesday morning, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
The suspect is in custody and alive.
CNN reported approximately 30 injuries in all, with many of those possibly not requiring hospitalization. CNN cited “law enforcement sources” and reported it was not clear how many of those injuries were from gunshot wounds. CNN further reported the suspect in custody is “of student age”” though it was not clear if that person attends Apalachee.
11Alive has confirmed Grady Hospital in Atlanta received one patient. The status of that patient was not clear. Northeast Georgia Medical Center said one patient was transported to their facility in Winder and one was being taken to their larger hospital in Gainesville.
Students were being released to parents and guardians, around 11:30 a.m., the district told 11Alive.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office conducted a press conference a little after 1 p.m. Few new details were available — no identifying information about the victims or alleged shooter has yet been released.
The sheriff’s office said the first call came in at 9:30 a.m. about an active shooter. Students are still being reunified.
“First and foremost we wanna lift up our community, give our sympathies to our community, school system, kids, parents, that had to witness this today,” Sheriff Jud Smith said. “Obviously what you see behind us is an evil thing today.”
The sheriff said it was his hope to conduct another news conference at 4 p.m. He described things as “very active” and “ever-developing.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to make remarks on the shooting at 2:50 p.m. while on a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
Unconfirmed reports earlier circulated about other schools in the area, but there were no additional shooting scenes. The principal of Holsenbeck Elementary said in a Facebook post that all district schools were in a soft lockdown — the principal indicated in a follow-up post at 1:47 p.m. that their lockdown was lifted and they would be dismissing at normal time.
Around 2 p.m., Winder Police asked parents picking up children at other schools to be patient with traffic. Winder Police said:
Schools will begin to transition from hard lockdowns to soft and will work to release students on time as this transition occurs. Buses will run as close to normal schedules as possible. The school asks that all parents choosing to pick up their children in person to please be patient as the traffic will be heavy. AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK ROADWAYS, SIDEWALKS, BUS AND CAR LANES AT SCHOOL SITES. Emergency vehicles are still needing to get in and out of the various schools and especially at Apalachee HS.
A community vigil is being planned for 7 p.m. tonight at Jug Tavern Park.
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. What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart. Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.
We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life.
Ending this gun violence epidemic is personal to me. It’s why I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most meaningful gun safety bill in decades – and have announced dozens of gun safety executive actions. I also established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. We’ve made significant progress, but this crisis requires even more.
After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers. These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart.
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. We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.
