A suspect is in custody after multiple people were killed and injured during an active shooting at a high school in Barrow County, Georgia.
Apalachee High School in Winder, 25 miles west of Athens, was put on lockdown after gunfire was reported at the scene around 10:30am on Wednesday.
Four people have died as a result of the shooting, and nine other people have been taken to hospital. The suspect is still alive, Georgia’s Bureau of Investigations said.
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It is unclear if the deceased and victims are high school students or adults.
Heartbreaking videos showed frantic students rushing to the school’s football field, while others huddled around ambulances as people flooded out of the building.
Emergency services flooded the scene in Georgia following the active shooting call – with medical helicopters seen flying injured victims to Grady Memorial Hospital.
One person is in custody, officials confirmed after midday.
The Sheriff’s office has refused to reveal the identity of the suspect, or if they have any connection to the high school. CNN reported the suspect is ‘of student age.’
Horrific details from inside classrooms have emerged – depicting the chilling chaos students endured as gunshots rang out this morning.
Sergio Caldera, 17, said he was in his senior chemistry class when he heard gunshots.
He told ABC: ‘My teacher goes and opens the door to see what’s going on.
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‘Another teacher comes running in and tells her to close the door because there’s an active shooter.’
Caldera said that his class heard chilling screams from outside as they ‘huddled up.’
Another 15-year-old child told Atlanta News First that his teacher immediately locked the door and his classmates ducked down into a lockdown position when the gunfire broke out on Wednesday morning.
He said that he was concerned about his friends and classmates – since the gunshots sounded close to where he was hunkered down.
Melanie, who is a student at Apalachee High School, revealed that a ‘code red’ announcement, along with a red flashing light, started going off in her classroom.
During drills, the light has never illuminated – which made her realize that the ordeal was real and serious, she told local reporters.
Her classmates immediately ducked into the corner of the room on the instruction of their teacher, who turned off the light.
Melanie said that many of her friends did not have cell service, but she did – so she texted her own family before letting her other classmates message their parents off of her phone.
The terrified student said she texted her mother, who said: ‘I’m coming to get you.’
Her mother said that it was ‘chaos’ when she arrived at the scene of the school, with a ‘giant’ line of parents waiting to be reunited with their children. She said that when she heard Melanie’s voice and gave her a hug, she was so grateful she was alive.
Heavily-armed police were seen entering the school as students were evacuated.
Panicked parents were left outside the school, attempting to get in touch with their children.
Grady Memorial Hospital confirmed that it was treating one gunshot victim.
Apalachee High School – which returned from the summer vacation on August 1 – is one of two high schools in the district and has about 1,900 students.
All campuses of Barrow County Schools, based in Winder, Georgia, went into a ‘soft lockdown’ after the active shooter situation unfolded at Apalachee High.
Confirming that one person was in custody following the horrific shooting, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said: ‘At the time of this release, one suspect is in custody, and casualties have been reported.
‘However details on the number or their conditions is not available at this time.’
At a press conference at 1pm, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said that his team are still scrambling to find answers. He called what happened an ‘evil thing.’
Smith said: ‘We are asking for your patience, please let us get the facts that we need to make sure we get this right. Every minute, it’s developing on what we’re finding.
This is going to take multiple days for us to get answers as to what happened and why this happened.’
President Joe Biden was been briefed on the shooting by his Homeland Security advisor, and said in a statement: ‘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.
‘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.
‘We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life.’
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.’
Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp said that he is ‘praying’ for everyone inside the classrooms: ‘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.’