WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday that four people were killed and at least nine were injured in a shooting at a high school outside of Atlanta.

Students scrambled for shelter in the football stadium as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe.

Authorities say a suspect is in custody.

“What you see behind us is an evil thing,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a brief news conference outside Apalachee High School. He declined to give details about casualties, or about the suspect.

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.

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.”

Traffic going to the school was backed up for more than a mile as parents tried to get to their children there.

“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp added.

In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta office said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. Our agents are on scene coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”

The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, about the shooting and the administration will coordinate with federal, state and local officials as it receives more information.

Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County’s second largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System. It’s named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.

The shooting had reverberations in Atlanta, where patrols of schools in that city were beefed up, authorities said. More patrols of Atlanta schools would be done “for the rest of the day out of an abundance of caution,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.

Reporting by Jeff Amy, Associated Press.

The man accused of killing Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll could face a new trial on two charges.

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Last week, a jury found Detroit resident Michael Jackson-Bolanos not guilty of first-degree murder and guilty of lying to police officers in relation to Woll’s brutal murder last fall. However, the jury was unable to reach a consensus on the felony murder and home invasion charges.

A pre-trial hearing was held Thursday before Wayne County Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten, as prosecutors consider whether to re-try Jackson-Bolanos for the two outstanding charges.

Defense attorneys for Jackson-Bolanos filed a motion to dismiss the charges on Wednesday, and prosecutors requested time to review the motion during Thursday’s hearing.

“Given the court’s schedule and given the nature of the motion, it does deserve some time to give a response and for the court to do its own research as well,” Van Houten said during the hearing on Thursday.

The judge asked prosecutors to file a response to the motion by Aug. 2, with a hearing on the motion to dismiss set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 9. Jackson-Bolanos will be sentenced for the lying to police officers count that same day.

Defense attorney Brian Brown asked Van Houten if she’d be willing to entertain bond for his client, which she declined. As a habitual offender, Jackson-Bolanos faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for the lying to police officers conviction.

Defense lawyer Purna Krishnamoorthy launched a petition drive on Monday asking prosecutors to drop the remaining charges against her client and let him out of jail, which has amassed nearly 600 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Other headlines for Thursday, July 25, 2024:

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill this week that will prohibit criminal defense attorneys from using a victims sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense argument.
• Detroit Public Schools Community District is creating the Social Studies Student Think Tank to collect opinions on how the school system can create more representative course materials.  
• Detroit Soccer Group BlackStar is partnering with Detroit City Football Club to host a variety of on-field events for players ages 7-18 this weekend.
• Ethiopian food pop-up Konjo Me is hosting an immersive Ethiopian cooking class at Café Prince in Core City on August 3. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.