The school in Georgia has been placed on lockdown and a suspect is in custody. The FBI and ATF are on scene assisting local law enforcement.
Law enforcement in the state of Georgia, in the United States, intervened this Wednesday, September 4, following a shooting in a high school, during which at least four people were killed, and nine people were injured according to the authorities. CNN, for its part, reports around thirty injured.
The shooting took place at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta, MSNBC reported, citing unnamed law enforcement officials briefed on the incident.
Suspect in custody
A suspect, “of school age” according to CNNwas taken into custody, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. All schools in the district have been placed on lockdown and police have been dispatched to all high schools in the district. The FBI and ATF are also on the scene in Georgia to assist local authorities, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference.
The incident appeared to be under control and the students were released by midday, a Barrow County Schools spokesman said. Live aerial footage showed several ambulances outside the high school. “My teacher opened the door (to the classroom) to see what was happening. Another teacher then 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 classmates then took refuge at the back of the room, from where they heard screams echoing outside.
CNN said he witnessed a patient being loaded onto a medical helicopter that landed at the school. “At approximately 10:23 a.m., officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and fire and rescue personnel were dispatched to the high school for a reported active shooting.”the sheriff’s office said. The FBI’s Atlanta office sent agents to the high school to support local law enforcement, said Jenna Sellitto, a spokeswoman for the bureau. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday deplored a “terrible tragedy”. “I am heartbroken for the families who have been affected,” he said.
The United States has seen hundreds of school and college shootings in the past two decades, the deadliest of which left more than 30 people dead at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carnage has sparked a heated debate over U.S. gun laws and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which enshrines the right to life and property. “to keep and bear arms”.
