At least four people died and nine were wounded in a high school shooting in the US state of Georgia on Wednesday, law enforcement authorities said, with a suspect taken into custody.
After the latest chapter of America’s gun violence crisis — nearly 400 mass shootings this year alone, by one tally — people gathered at a sports field outside Apalachee High School, some forming a circle with their arms linked.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said four people had been killed. There was no immediate word on a motive.
“An additional nine taken to various hospitals with injuries. Suspect in custody and alive. Reports that the suspect has been ‘neutralized’ are inaccurate,” the bureau said in a social media post.
Earlier, school authorities were reported to have sent a message to parents saying they were enforcing a “hard lockdown after reports of gunfire.”
After the all-clear was given, parents were invited to the school to be reunited with their children, with long lines of vehicles visible outside.
A student told local media that he saw blood on the floor and a body as he was led out of the building by authorities.
“I heard gunshots go off… I thought it was fake until I heard more gunshots and screaming,” said the male student, whose name was not given by the Fox 5 News channel.
On Wednesday morning, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper quoted 11th grade student Henry van der Walt as texting his mother that he thought “there’s a school shooting.”
Minutes later, he texted: “I love you.”
Local television footage showed ambulances driving across a school field about two hours after the attack was first reported, with scores of vehicles parked around the school.
The shooting occurred near the town of Winder, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta, the state capital.
US President Joe Biden said he was mourning the dead.
“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,” he said, referring to the frequency of such attacks across the country.
School shootings have become a sadly regular occurrence in the United States, where about a third of adults own a firearm and regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax.
Polls show a majority of voters favor stricter controls on the use and purchase of firearms, but the powerful gun ownership lobby is opposed to additional restrictions and lawmakers have repeatedly failed to act.
(AFP)
