Four dead, nine wounded in Georgia high school shooting

At least four people were killed and nine others wounded in a high school shooting in Georgia on Wednesday, according to law enforcement authorities. The suspect has been taken into custody.

The shooting adds to the ongoing crisis of gun violence in the U.S., with nearly 400 mass shootings reported this year alone. In response to the attack, people gathered at a sports field outside Apalachee High School, forming a circle with linked arms.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed the death toll and stated that the suspect is in custody and alive. Contrary to earlier reports, the suspect has not been “neutralized.”

School officials had earlier issued a “hard lockdown” following reports of gunfire. Once the situation was declared secure, parents were allowed to come to the school to reunite with their children, resulting in long lines of vehicles outside.

A student recounted seeing blood and a body as he was evacuated from the building. “I heard gunshots… I thought it was fake until I heard more gunshots and screaming,” the student told local media.

Henry van der Walt, an 11th-grade student, texted his mother about the shooting before sending a final message saying, “I love you.”

Local television footage showed ambulances arriving at the school about two hours after the shooting began, with many vehicles parked nearby.

The shooting took place near Winder, approximately 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. President Joe Biden expressed his sorrow, condemning the normalization of such attacks in the U.S. He criticized the education system for teaching students to duck and cover instead of focusing on academics.

School shootings have become alarmingly common in the U.S., where about a third of adults own firearms and regulations on military-style rifles are relatively lenient. Despite public support for stricter gun control measures, legislative action has been stalled by the powerful gun ownership lobby.

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire, called for an end to the “epidemic of gun violence.” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump described the shooter as a “sick and deranged monster.”

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 384 mass shootings this year, with over 11,500 fatalities due to firearms violence.