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A 14-year-old student kills four people at his school in the US.
A 14-year-old student shot and killed two students and two teachers at his high school in the southeastern United States on Wednesday before being arrested, authorities announced.
Source: AFP
“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 enrolled at this institute.”
“He will be prosecuted for murder and tried as an adult,” the official said at a press conference in front of 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 confronted by an officer assigned to security at the center, the shooter “realized that if he didn’t surrender,” the officer was going 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 “at the moment” it is unknown if there was a motive.
This massacre is the latest in a long list in the country.
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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 across the country are learning to duck and shelter instead of learning to read and write. We can no longer accept this as normal,” added Biden, who has been trying for years to regulate access to firearms.
“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 candidate for the White House Kamala Harris during a rally in the state of New Hampshire.
His rival, Republican Donald Trump, called it “sick and deranged monster” 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.
SHOUTING
Stephanie Folgar, a 17-year-old student, was in class when she heard “loud bangs, like gunshots, in the hallway” at around 10:30 a.m.
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 remained “two or three hours” in a sports field, without access to water.
On Wednesday, media images showed large numbers of students gathered in a stadium, before they were able to reunite with their families.
“It’s scary to think that it could have been you,” commented Stephanie Folgar.
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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 hit byn frequency due to 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.
