GEORGIA: A 14-year-old student opened fire at a high school in the U.S. state of Georgia, killing four people on Wednesday, authorities said.
The shooting sent students scrambling for shelter in their classrooms — and eventually to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe.
The dead were identified as two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. At least nine other people with injuries were taken to hospitals.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said two school resource officers encountered the shooter within minutes after a report of shots fired.
The suspect, a student at the school, immediately surrendered and was taken into custody. He is being charged as an adult with murder.
Authorities were still looking into how the suspect obtained the gun used in the shooting and how he got it into the school.
The investigation was still “very active,” Hosey said, with lots of interviews and crime scene work yet to be done.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith choked up as he began to speak during the news conference. He said he was born and raised in the community and his kids are in the school system.
“My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community,” he said. “But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Love will prevail over what happened today.”
(VOA)
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