Terrified witnesses looked on the chaotic scene of Apalachee High School following a mass shooting , killing 4 and injuring 9, that left students under lockdown, crying "they won't let me see my children."
The school, part of the Barrow County Public Schools district, hosts approximately 1,900 students according to US News and World Report data.
Law enforcement agencies rushed dozens of officers to the location with a swarm of ambulances and police units visible outside the school . While multiple injuries are suspected and one person seems to have been evacuated via helicopter. The shooter is suspected of being 14-years-old.
Local community members are spreading word of the incident on social media platforms, reports the Express US .
A worried Brittany Lewis wrote on her Facebook page: "Active shooter is at my kid's school Apalachee High School one has been reported shot I don't know if it's a teacher or student. "I'm on the school ground law enforcement is here please pray for us they won't let me in to my children please pray for us please."
In a separate post, Kim Atha Carter alerted on Facebook: "There's an active shooter at Apalachee High School. 4 dead . 7 shot. Two teachers were shot. My neighbors are teachers there. Please pray."
Jacob King, a sophomore football player, said he had dozed off in his world history class after a morning practice when he heard about 10 gunshots.
King said he didn't believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. King said when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student. Ashley Enoh was at home Wednesday morning when she got a text from her brother, who's a senior at Apalachee High School:
"Just so you know, I love you," he texted her. When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a shooter at the school. Enoh's younger sister, a junior at the school, said she had heard about the shooter and that everything was on lockdown.
Few details were immediately available from authorities, who were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. to respond to an "active shooting," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
"Casualties have been reported, however details on the number or their conditions is not available at this time," the statement added.
Helicopter video from WSB-TV showed dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounding the school in Barrow County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta.
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\When Erin Clark, 42, received a text from her son Ethan, a senior at the high school, that there was an active shooter, she rushed from her job at the Amazon warehouse to the school. The two texted "I love you," and Clark said she prayed for her son as she drove to the high school.
With the main road blocked to the school, Clark parked and ran with other parents. Parents were then directed to the football field. Amid the chaos, Clark found Ethan sitting on the bleachers.
Clark said her son was writing an essay in class when he first heard the gunshots. Her son then worked with his classmates to barricade the door and hide.
"I'm so proud of him for doing that," she said. "He was so brave." Students had only started the school year a little over a month ago before the shooting Wednesday. "It makes me scared to send him back," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
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