Four dead and at least nine injured in shooting at US high school

Shots rang out and police stormed the campus of Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning as parents asked if their children were safe at the school in Winder, Georgia.

Authorities said a suspect was in custody. It was initially unclear whether the shooter was a student at the school.

“What you see behind us is something evil,” said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith at a brief press conference outside the school. He declined to provide details about the victims or the suspect.

This incident is just the latest of dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including particularly deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The classroom killings have sparked heated debates about gun control, and children grow up with the habit of practicing target practice in classrooms.

Student Jacob King said he was dozing off during his world history class after morning soccer practice when he heard about 10 gunshots.

He said he didn’t believe it was a real shooting until he heard a police officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. He said as his class was being led out, he saw police officers protecting a student who appeared to be injured.

Ashley Enoh was at home Wednesday morning when she received a text message from her brother, a senior at Apalachee High.

“Just so you know, I love you,” he wrote to her.

When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a shooter at school.

Few details were initially available from authorities 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 police and emergency vehicles surrounding the school in Barrow County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.

When Erin Clark, 42, received a text message from her son Ethan, a 12th-grader at the high school, that a shooter was on the scene, she rushed to school from her job at the Amazon warehouse. The two texted “I love you” and Ms. Clark said she prayed for her son on the drive to the high school.

Since the main road to the school was closed, Mrs. Clark parked and walked with other parents. The parents were then escorted to the soccer field. In the midst of the chaos, Mrs. Clark found Ethan.

Ms. Clark said her son was writing an essay in class when he heard the gunshots. Her son then barricaded the door with his classmates and hid.

“I’m so proud of him for doing that,” she said. “He was so brave.”

“I’m afraid to send him back,” she said. “I don’t know what to do.”

On the way to school, traffic was backed up for more than a mile as parents tried to get to their children.

“I have deployed 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,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with local, state and federal partners as we gather information and continue to respond to this situation,” Mr. Kemp added.

A statement from the FBI office in Atlanta said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Our agents are on site coordinating and assisting local law enforcement.”

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting and that the administration would coordinate with federal, state and local authorities as it received more information.

According to Georgia Department of Education records, Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students. According to the Barrow County School System, it became the second largest public high school in Barrow County when it opened in 2000. It is named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.

The shooting also had repercussions in Atlanta, where patrols in the city’s schools were increased, authorities said. “As a precautionary measure,” more patrols will be conducted in Atlanta schools for the remainder of the day, said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.