Two students and two teachers were killed and nine others wounded Wednesday in a school shooting an hour outside of Atlanta, authorities said.
One suspect, a 14-year-old student, was alive and taken into custody following the gunfire at Apalachee High School, Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey said at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect surrendered to law enforcement immediately after being confronted, Hosey said. He was cooperating with authorities and will be charged with murder and handled as an adult, according to Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.
“He gave up, got on the ground and the deputy took him into custody,” Smith said.
Smith lamented the “pure evil” and “hateful event” that occurred at the school. All nine who were taken to hospitals were injured by gunfire in some capacity, he said.
A motive was unclear. Smith said he was not aware whether the victims were targeted or whether there was a connection between the shooter and the victims.
“I don’t know why it happened. I may not ever know. We may not ever know,” Smith said.
Smith said it is also unclear whether there were any warning signs. Smith said authorities do not yet know how the shooter obtained the firearm and how he brought it into the school.
Earlier, he said it would take “multiple days” to determine what happened. “Every minute, it’s developing on what we’re finding,” he said.
Smith said authorities were working to reunite students with their parents.
The first call reporting an “active shooter” came in around 10:30 a.m., Smith said. Hosey said law enforcement officers and two school resource officers responded to the scene within minutes of being alerted to the shooting.
All campuses of Barrow County Schools, based in Winder, Georgia, went into a “soft lockdown” with most of the activity centered around Apalachee H.S. where police cars, fire trucks and ambulances had all converged.
Students could be seen being directed to the school’s football stadium.
“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,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in statement.
President Joe Biden said he was mourning those who were killed, as he pushed Congress to pass gun safety legislation.
“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” Biden said in a statement.
“Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write,” he added. “We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “devastated” for the affected families and said the Justice Department was ready to provide support.
Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta confirmed that it was treating one gunshot victim.
School has been in session at Apalachee H.S. since Aug. 1.
The school is Barrow County’s second high school, according to its website, and opened in 2000.
FBI agents from Atlanta were dispatched to the scene to assist local authorities, officials said.
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