A 14-year-old student shot and killed two students and two teachers at his high school in Georgia, United States before being arrested, authorities announced. The shooting occurred on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
“The shooter has been arrested,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, where the killing took place.
“This is a 14-year-old student “schooled at this institute.”
“He will be charged with murder and tried as an adult,” the official said at a news conference outside the Apalachee Center in the town of Winder, about 70 kilometers northeast of Atlanta.
The four people killed were two students and two teachers, said Chris Hosey. Nine others were injured, he said.
Police intervened after receiving emergency calls at around 10:20 a.m.
When the shooter faced an agent assigned to the security of the center, “He realized that if he didn’t give up,” The officer was about to open fire, said Jud Smith, the local sheriff.
“He gave up, threw himself to the ground and the officer arrested him,” He added that “for the moment” it is unknown if there was a motive.
This massacre is the latest in a long list in the country.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill are mourning “the deaths of those whose lives were cut short by senseless gun violence.”
“Students from all over the country They are learning to duck and take cover instead of learning to read and write. “We can no longer accept this as normal,” added Biden, who has been trying to regulate access to firearms for years.
“We must end this epidemic of gun violence in our country, once and for all. It doesn’t have to be this way,” said Vice President and Democratic White House candidate Kamala Harris during a rally in New Hampshire.
His rival, Republican Donald Trump, called it “sick and deranged monster” to the shooter, in a message on his platform Truth Social
Georgia, where the massacre took place, is one of the key states that could decide the outcome of the presidential election in November.
Screams were heard in the school
Stephanie Folgar, a 17-year-old student, was in class when she heard “Loud bangs, like gunshots, in the hallway” around 10:30 in the morning.
She told AFP that a teacher arrived. “He told us to run to the toilets, to a cupboard, and hide.”
“After 15 or 20 minutes the police arrived, they told us we could leave and follow them outside,” he added.
He then spent “two or three hours” on a sports field, without access to water.
On Wednesday, media images They showed a large number of students concentrated in a stadium, before they could reunite with their families.
“It’s scary to think that it could have been you,” commented Stephanie Folgar.
Another student, Alexsandra Romero, said that many thought it was an exercise.
“Until my teacher said, ‘We didn’t get an email.’ Then they started to worry. “She cornered us and we all stayed together. “Some of my friends were crying.”
When the police arrived, “they told us it wasn’t a drill.” “I never thought it would happen in a school like mine,” Folgar adds.
The United States is frequently hit by school shootings.
In May 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed in a massacre at a school in Uvalde, Texas, committed by an 18-year-old using a legally purchased assault rifle.
“After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass commonsense gun safety legislation,” Biden said in the statement.
Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/tiroteo-en-un-colegio-de-ee-uu-deja-cuatro-muertos-y-un-alumno-de-14-anos-fue-detenido-cb20
