Ga. school shooting terrifies teens, sparks panic in parents
WINDER, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Scared parents got past roadblocks a mile from the site of a Georgia school shooting on Wednesday and ran to check on their kids.
The shooting unfolded around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, leaving forur people dead and several injured.
The suspect was taken into custody.
After the shooting was reported, the school was placed on a hard lockdown and students were evacuated, then taken to the stadium to await their parents.
MORE: An evil thing’ ... 4 killed, others injured at Ga. high school
Hundreds of law enforcement officers swarmed Apalachee High School in Barrow County and took a suspect into custody after a shooting killed four people.
Some parents were able to get in with their children through cellphones – something many schools are starting to ban, but something that might be able to save lives in situations like this.
Other parents were in tears because they couldn’t reach their kids.
“I talked to her,” one mom said. “She was a little nervous ... they’re at the football field waiting for their parents.”
She added: “The main thing is to make sure these kids are OK.”
BY THE NUMBERS:
The Gun Violence Archive said that in Georgia schools since 2022, there have been:
- 97 gun incidents
- Five gun fatalities
- 17 gun injuries
- 72 arrests for gun incidents
When Erin Clark, 42, received a text from her son Ethan, a senior at the high school, that there was an active shooter, she rushed from her job at the Amazon warehouse to the school. The two texted “I love you,” and Clark said she prayed for her son as she drove to the high school.
With the main road blocked to the school, Clark parked and ran with other parents. Parents were then directed to the football field. Amid the chaos, Clark found Ethan sitting on the bleachers.
Clark said her son was writing an essay in class when he first heard the gunshots. Her son then worked with his classmates to barricade the door and hide.
Active shooter drills are mandatory in Georgia schools
A new law requires annual active shooter drills at schools in Georgia, and that may have played a role in authorities’ response to Wednesday’s shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
“I’m so proud of him for doing that,” she said. “He was so brave.”
Students had only started the school year a little over a month ago before the shooting Wednesday.
“It makes me scared to send him back,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
One student said he heard the gunshots in his classroom and the teacher lept into action, getting the the students into lockdown position.
Once in the stadium, he said he and his classmates were sad and disturbed.
His first thought was that he was worried about his friends.
He said he’d heard of this happening in other places, but he didn’t imagine it would actually happen at his school.
Jacob King, a sophomore football player, said he had dozed off in his world history class after a morning practice.
Then he heard about 10 gunshots.
King said he didn’t believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. King said when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student.
Ashley Enoh was at home Wednesday morning when she got a text from her brother, who’s a senior at Apalachee High:
“Just so you know, I love you,” he texted her.
When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a shooter at the school. Enoh’s younger sister, a junior at the school, said she had heard about the shooter and that everything was on lockdown.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
