BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A school shooting in Barrow County prompted a terrifying scene for students, staff, and their families Wednesday morning.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, four people are dead and nine others have been hospitalized behind the gunfire at Apalachee High School, which is located outside of Winder. The suspect has been taken into custody, the agency added.
Shirley Powers, whose grandson is a senior at the school, talked to 11Alive's Molly Oak at the scene. Filled with emotion, she described how she found out about the shooting.
"My daughter called me at work screaming that there was a shooter at Apalachee and begged me to get there as quick as possible," she said.
She said she told the office manager and and rushed to the high school. Since the shooting, she's heard from her 17-year-old grandson, who she said is doing OK.
"He was with the principal and the principal told him to run to the band room. Don't look back, just keep running," she said.
Powers said her daughter was able to be with him, but she is hurting for everyone who has been impacted.
"I feel really sorry for the kids, that they've had to experience such evil," Powers said. "I feel really sorry for the kids that they've had to experience this and the parents who got those phone call that it was their child."
Another woman at the scene said she was picking up her neighbor's son. She got a call from his mother explaining to her what had happened. She said the student actually heard the shooting.
"He's like, they're shooting, they're shooting right across from my classroom," she explained. "He called his mother devastated, I'm sure."
"This is a parent's worse nightmare to hear about a shooting at their child's school" she said.
This is still an active situation that under investigation.
11Alive's Molly Oak contributed to this report.
