KEY POINTS
- Two students and two teachers have been killed in a shooting at a high school in the US state of Georgia.
- The suspect, a 14-year-old student at the school, was in custody and will be charged and tried as an adult.
- Nine others were taken to hospitals with various injuries from gunshots, investigators said.
Two students and two teachers have been killed in a shooting at a high school in Georgia, United States — just weeks after classes began, authorities have said.
The shooting was the first of the new school year in the US, a stark reminder of the threat of
It left four dead at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and nine people were taken to hospitals with various injuries from gunshots, investigators said at a press conference.
What do we know about the suspect?
The suspect, identified as Colt Gray, 14, a student at the school, was in custody and will be charged and tried as an adult, said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The suspect was speaking with investigators, but they declined to say if they knew what motivated him. They also did not say what type of gun was used in the shooting.
"What we see behind us is an evil thing today," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said during a brief news conference on school grounds.
How did authorities respond?
Smith said that his deputies quickly responded to the shooting after the sheriff's department had word of an active shooter around 10:20am local time.
The gunman was confronted by a deputy in the school and the boy immediately got on the ground and surrendered, Smith said.
The incident took place at the school about 80km north-east of Atlanta.
Local TV stations broadcast images of parents lining up in cars on a road outside the school, hoping to be reunited with their children. The school, which had an enrolment of nearly 1,900 last year, began classes on 1 August.
How have political leaders responded?
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting "and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information".
"Jill (Biden's wife) 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," Biden said in a statement, calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to pass "common-sense gun safety legislation".
Four people have died at Apalachee High School in Georgia after a 14-year-old student opened fire. Source: AAP / Erik S. Lesser/EPA
"We've got to stop it. We have to end this epidemic of gun violence," she said at the start of a campaign event in New Hampshire.
Former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, wrote on social media: "Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA. These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster."
