Four people have been killed in Georgia, part of the southern United States, after a shooter opened fire on the grounds of Apalachee High School in the city of Winder, northeast of Atlanta.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a news conference on Wednesday that the gunman, a 14-year-old student named Colt Gray, surrendered without a struggle and was taken into custody.
Two of those killed were students and two were teachers, with nine people taken to local hospitals with “various injuries”.
“The priority right now for us within this investigation is to gather all the facts, to make sure that we’re accurate with it, because this is a murder investigation,” GBI director, Chris Hosey, told reporters.
Hosey added that the attacker faces steep consequences. “He will be charged with murder, and he will be tried as an adult and handled as an adult.”
According to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, local law enforcement received initial reports that “there was an active shooter on this campus” around 9:30am local time (13:30 GMT).
By 10:23am (14:23 GMT), officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and emergency medical services had been dispatched to Apalachee High School, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The campus was placed on lockdown, and students were seen to evacuate to the school’s football stadium.
Live television coverage also showed ambulances appearing on the scene, as well as a medical helicopter arriving to evacuate the wounded. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies quickly arrived to respond.
Officials speak out
In a news conference shortly after the shooting, Sheriff Smith said law enforcement was in the midst of a “very, very fluid investigation”. He declined to provide additional details about the dead and wounded, only confirming that “multiple injuries” were reported.
“Obviously, what you see behind us is an evil thing today,” Smith said. “I want to give our sympathies to our community, our school system, our kids, our parents, that had to witness this today.”
US President Joe Biden and members of his administration also weighed in on the unfolding tragedy.
“Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed,” Biden said in a press release.
“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. 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.”
Another administration official, Attorney General Merrick Garland, began his news conference about election security by acknowledging the events in Winder.
“I’m devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy,” Garland said as he began the news conference. “The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or support that the Winder community needs in the days ahead.”
Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp also issued a statement: “This is a day every parent dreads.”
Influence on the presidential race
News of the shooting also created ripples in the race for the US presidency, as the campaigns complete their final months on the road before the November 5 election.
Speaking from the campaign trail in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Vice President Kamala Harris – the Democratic nominee for the president – opened her latest rally with an acknowledgement of the bloodshed, saying she was “going off-script” to address the shooting.
“This is a senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies. And it’s just outrageous that every day, in our country, the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive,” Harris said.
“We’ve got to stop it. We’ve got to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the presidency, also reacted to news of the shooting, with a post to his Truth Social platform.
“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” he wrote. “These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Trump himself was the victim of gun violence earlier this year when a gunman shot his ear in a failed assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Nevertheless, his campaign has pledged to protect the rights of gun owners and repeal restrictions put in place under President Biden.
In June 2022, Biden signed the first major gun reform law in nearly three decades, called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
It passed shortly after a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.
Misinformation surrounds shooting
The incident in Winder is only the latest school shooting in the US, where such attacks have become relatively frequent. Critics say they underscore the country’s stasis on the question of gun violence as conservative lawmakers continue to block calls for additional firearms regulations.
“We continue to call on Congress to do something – to do something. We need universal background checks,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing on Wednesday.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, invest in violence prevention programmes and pass a national red flag law,” she continued, referencing legislation that would remove firearms from people deemed to be a safety risk to themselves and others.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis in June, saying it has “led to loss of life, unimaginable pain and profound grief for far too many Americans”.
So far, the Gun Violence Archive, a research nonprofit, has tallied 358 “mass shootings” in the US so far this year, defined as shootings where four or more people were injured or killed.
In Winder, officials attempted to tamp down on speculation surrounding the shooting, as rumours swirled.
The GBI, for instance, struck down hearsay that other school shootings had occurred nearby. It added, “Reports that the suspect has been ‘neutralized’ are inaccurate.”
Meanwhile, in his news conference, Sheriff Smith asked for the media’s patience “to please let us get the facts that we need to make sure we get this right”.
“We’re in the process of reunifying our students with their parents,” Sheriff Smith said. “Obviously, that’s chaotic. But we want to be respectful of them and their privacy as well.”
