Ten children were hit by BBs or pellets outside of an elementary school in Georgia on April 25, officials said.
The incident took place at Wynbrooke Elementary Theme School in Stone Mountain.
The DeKalb County School District said in a statement that “ten students suffered nonlife-threatening injuries from what appears to be a BB or pellet gun.”
“The students were transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Hospital to be treated or picked up by their parents. The shots appear to have come from a position away from the school grounds. There was never a threat of anyone getting into the school building and the remaining students were not injured,” the district added.
This is one brave 11-year-old! Caleb Edmonson told me he was in the cafeteria, eating lunch, when he started hearing reports of an active shooter. pic.twitter.com/gaWmpoe3e2
— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) April 25, 2019
Update: Children’s Hospital officials confirm they received 9 patients after students were injured with a BB gun at a DeKalb Co. school. All students have been evaluated. All are in good condition. Hospital will be reuniting students with parents soon. #11Alive pic.twitter.com/8L2cJHCU2S
— Joe Henke (@JoeHenke) April 25, 2019
A representative with the hospital told 11 Alive late Thursday that all of the students had been reunited with their parents and some had been released from the hospital.
Parents said the students were outside playing when the shooting started.
“He got hit in the back,” parent Kevin Johnson said, noting his son Kai was injured. “He said he was playing, just what normal kids do, and he said all of sudden he felt like he got hit in the back and he hit the floor.”
After the shots were fired, panicked parents rushed to the school.
Police, school officials in front of Wynbrooke Elementary in DeKalb, after police say 10 kids were shot with a BB or pellet gun. District says injuries are not life-threatening. pic.twitter.com/GETfeR4Neg
— Rikki Klaus (@RikkiKlausWSB) April 25, 2019
“You just panic and you want to get your child,” Tarik Edmondson, one of the first parents to arrive, told reporters, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Barbara Madison, who lives nearby and had rushed to get her niece, added, “My heart dropped when I heard about it.”
Inside, a level 2 lockdown took place. All classroom doors were locked, students and staff were not allowed to leave the classroom they were in, and all visitors were required to report to the main office.
“People started to think it was a drill, but then like a couple of minutes later we saw an ambulance and police officers coming in, running down our hallways,” Caleb Edmonson, 11, told WSB.
Parent told me no recess today for students at Wynbrooke Elementary in DeKalb County…day after 10 kids were shot with pellet or BB gun on playground. Search still ongoing for suspect pic.twitter.com/KUHtaftdnZ
— Steve Gehlbach (@SteveGWSB) April 26, 2019
“I remember seeing our teachers running down the hallway and seeing police officers running down the hallways and seeing them through the windows coming in and an ambulance,” another student, Caleb Smith, told 11 Alive.
“And seeing those little carts that people lay on when they’re injured.”
Officials were still investigating on Friday.
A parent of a student at the school told WSB that there would be no recess on April 26 as the search for the suspect is still ongoing.
