LAST UPDATE | 4 Sep

THE PERPETRATOR OF a shooting at a US high school was a 14-year-old student and two of the four people killed were fellow pupils, authorities have revealed.

“Of those that are deceased, two were students and two were teachers here at the school,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“The shooter is in custody… He is a fourteen year old student here at the high school.”

Four people were killed and nine people wounded in the high school shooting in the US state of Georgia.

The shooting happened at around 9.30am this morning (2.30pm Irish time) at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.

Update: 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.

— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) September 4, 2024

The school is located near the town of Winder, about 70 kilometers northeast of Atlanta, the state capital.

US President Joe Biden said he was mourning the deceased.

“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,” he said, referring to the frequency of such attacks across the country.

School shootings have become a regular occurrence in the United States, where about a third of adults own a firearm and regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax.

Polls show a majority of voters favor stricter controls on the use and purchase of firearms, but the powerful gun ownership lobby is opposed to additional restrictions and lawmakers have repeatedly failed to act.

Crowds gathered

US Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the shooting in a press conference, saying state, federal and local officials were investigating the case.

“I’m devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy,” the top US Justice Department official said.

Local television footage showed ambulances driving across a school field about two hours after the attack was first reported, and scores of vehicles parked around the school.

A crowd of people was visible on the football field, with some gathered in a circle with their arms linked.

This year, there have been at least 384 mass shootings – defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded – across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

At least 11,557 people have been killed in firearms violence, according to the GVA.

With reporting from © AFP 2024