A shooter at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, killed four people and injured at least nine on Wednesday. Authorities said that a suspect was in custody, and it was not immediately clear if the shooter was a student at the school.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that four people were dead and at least nine injured. This incident is just the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
The killings in classrooms have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to active shooter drills in classrooms.
Prior to Wednesday’s shooting, there had been 29 mass killings in the U.S. so far this year, with at least 127 people dying in those killings. Last year ended with 217 deaths from 42 mass killings in the U.S., making 2023 one of the deadliest years on record in the country.
Ashley Enoh, a sophomore football player, said she heard about 10 gunshots after a morning practice when she heard about the shooter at the school.
Her younger sister, a junior at the school, said she had heard about the shooter and that everything was on lockdown. Sophia Kaylee Abner was in geometry class when she heard gunshots.
She and her classmates ducked behind their teacher’s desk, and then the teacher began flipping the desk in an attempt to barricade the classroom door. A classmate beside her was praying, and she held his hand while the students waited for the police.
Few details were immediately available from authorities, who were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. to respond to an “active shooting,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Helicopter video from WSB-TV showed dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounding the school in Barrow County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he has directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urges all Georgians to join his family in praying for the safety of those in their classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state. The FBI’s Atlanta office said its agents were at the school “coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”
The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed about the shooting, and the administration will coordinate with federal, state, and local officials as it receives more information. Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students and became Barrow County’s second-largest public high school when it opened in 2000.
(AP)
