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CrimeUnited States of America

US: 4 dead, several injured in Georgia school shooting

September 4, 2024

Two teachers and two students were killed during a shooting at Apalachee High School, some 70 kilometers north of Atlanta, Georgia. A 14-year-old boy is in custody and is being charged with murder, police said.

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Law enforcement arrive as students are evacuated to the football stadium after the school campus was placed on lockdown at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, US
Police arrive at Apalachee High School in Winder, GeorgiaImage: Erin Clark/AP/picture alliance

Police in the US state of Georgia responded to a shooting incident on Wednesday at Apalachee High School, located in the town of Winder, Barrow County, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of Atlanta.

One suspect was in custody, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Authorities said the suspect is a 14-year-old male student at Apalachee High School, surrendered to police and will be tried as an adult. 

The motive behind the shooting is still unclear. Authorities were still investigating how the suspect obtained the gun used in the shooting and brought it into the school.

What do we know about the casualties?

Four people, two students and two teachers, were killed and at least nine people were injured in the shooting, according to law enforcement officials.

Police and ambulances were seen rushing to the high school, with students evacuated from the scene.

Students and staff gather next to the football field after law enforcement officers responded to a fatal shooting at Apalachee High School in a still image from aerial video in Winder, Georgia, US
Students and staff gathered next to the football field at Apalachee High SchoolImage: ABC Affiliate WSB/REUTERS

Apalachee High School sent a message to parents saying the school was "in a hard lockdown" due to reports of gunfire, adding that law enforcement was at the scene.

The incident appeared to be under control and the students were released by noon, a Barrow County Schools spokesman said.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, the White House confirmed.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland described a school shooting in the state as a "terrible tragedy." 

"I'm devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy," the top US Justice Department official told reporters.

Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire after the shooting, Vice President Kamala Harris said it was time to end the "epidemic of gun violence."

Meanwhile, Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump said the perpetrator of the shooting was a "sick and deranged monster."

Mass shootings in the US

The US has seen hundreds of school and college shootings over the past two decades, the deadliest of which left more than 30 people dead at Virginia Tech in 2007.

The carnage has sparked a fierce debate over US gun laws and the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to "keep and bear arms," and led to a generation of children growing accustomed to active shooter drills in their classrooms. 

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 384 mass shootings in the United States this year. A mass shooting is defined as a shooting with at least four victims.

ft,dh/jcg (Reuters, AP)