At least four people were shot to death and nine others were injured in a shooting at a high school in the U.S. state of Georgia on Wednesday.
“Four dead. An additional nine taken to various hospitals with injuries. Suspect in custody and alive. Reports that the suspect has been ‘neutralized’ are inaccurate,” the state bureau of investigation said in a social media post.
Law enforcement officers in Georgia responded to a shooting at a high school and there appear to be victims, authorities said.
Live aerial TV images showed several ambulances outside of Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
CNN said it witnessed a patient being loaded into a medical helicopter that had landed at the school.
“At approximately 10:23 a.m., officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting,” the Barrow County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
A Barrow County Schools spokesperson said the school has been “secured by law enforcement and students are being released.”
“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,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp added.
In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta office said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Our agents are on scene coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”
Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County’s second largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System. It’s named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.
