4 dead, 9 hospitalized after shooting at high school in Georgia; suspect in custody
Four people were killed and nine more were hospitalized with injuries after a shooting Wednesday morning at a high school in northern Georgia, authorities have confirmed.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said one suspect was taken into custody, alive, and clarified any reports that suggested the individual had been "neutralized" were inaccurate. Neither the suspect nor the victims have been identified.
"What you see behind us is an evil thing today," said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith at a news conference held Wednesday afternoon on school grounds. Smith told reporters that "we have multiple injuries" but did not share more information about the nature of them.
Details about the conditions of those injured were not immediately clear. A spokesperson for Grady Health System, which operates Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, previously said staff had received one gunshot wound patient from the high school.
"This is a very, very fluid investigation," said Smith. "This is going to take multiple days for us to get answers as to what happened and why this happened."
Administrators had earlier placed students and faculty on lockdown as reports emerged online of a possible active shooter at the school in Winder, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Officers were dispatched to the site at approximately 10:23 a.m. EDT, according to the sheriff. The premises were cleared within an hour, the school said, and students started being released to their families.
There was a heavy police presence seen on the school's property Wednesday morning, CBS affiliate WANF reported at around 11 a.m. Aerial footage from the news station showed dozens of ambulances, officers and a medical helicopter gathered in the parking lot and on the green outside of the building. At that time, at least one person had been transferred into the helicopter on a stretcher and students evacuated to the school's stadium, where buses were due to pick them up, according to WANF.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were also called to the scene. FBI Atlanta said they were "coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement" in a statement shared just before 12 p.m. on social media.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addressed the situation in a social media statement released around the same time, saying his office had moved state resources to help with the response to what he described as an "incident at Apalachee High School."
"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," Kemp said. "We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation."
President Biden and his administration were aware of the shooting, the White House Press Office said in a statement.
"President Biden has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, on the tragic shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information," the statement said.
Some 1,900 students are enrolled at Apalachee High School. Classes begin each day at 8:15 a.m., according to the district calendar.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
