At least four people were killed and nine others were injured in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday morning, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told NBC News.
A suspect has been arrested and is alive, the GBI said. Officials have not commented on a possible motive or publicly identified those killed or injured in the attack. The suspect is a teenager, multiple senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Police and emergency personnel responded to reports of an active shooter around 10:23 a.m., the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said. About 1,800 students attend Apalachee High School, which is in Barrow County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. The school has been open since Aug. 1, according to the student calendar.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on X that he has deployed state resources to respond to the shooting. “We will continue to work with local, state and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” he added.
All schools in Barrow County are currently in a “soft” lockdown, where students cannot be released, NBC News reported.
Miguel Eduardo Perichi Orta, a 10th-grader from Apalachee, spoke to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate WXIA about the fear he felt during the shooting. He said his stomach turned when the students were finally allowed out of the classroom and he saw blood and gunpowder on the floor.
“It was heartbreaking to see that,” he told WXIA, adding that he was “angry and disappointed” by the shooting.
“If something like this can happen here, when you think it’s a normal day, it can happen anywhere, and that’s what really hurts,” he said.
President Joe Biden thanked first responders in a statement and said he and first lady Jill Biden mourn the victims. The shooting, he said, is a “horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart.”
“Students across the country are being taught how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We can no longer accept this as business as usual,” Biden added, urging Republicans in Congress to work with Democrats “to pass common sense gun safety legislation.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland held a press conference Wednesday about Russian election interference in the Georgia shooting, noting that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on the scene and working with state and local law enforcement.
“My heart goes out to the families affected by this terrible tragedy,” Garland said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
