Four dead at US school

FBI: The crime had probably been in the making for a long time

(Bild: Action Press/Getty Images/Magan Varner)

A 14-year-old opened fire at a school in the US state of Georgia, killing at least four people - krone.at reported. The victims include two pupils and two teachers. The act of madness had probably been foreshadowed for a long time - the teenage shooter was no stranger to the police ...

According to investigators, the shooter was a student at Apalachee High School. He was arrested and is being questioned by the police. The police did not provide any information on a possible motive.

Several anonymous tips in the previous year
According to a statement from the FBI, there were several anonymous tips about a possible attack last year. Specifically, there were online threats containing photos of weapons and announcing a gun attack at a school, it said.

A 14-year-old opened fire at a school (the picture shows emergency services) in the US state of Georgia, killing at least four people.

(Bild: Action Press/Getty Images/Magan Varner)

The suspected shooter and his father were subsequently questioned. "The father stated that he had hunting weapons in the house, but that the suspect did not have unsupervised access to these weapons."

The then 13-year-old denied having threatened an attack. The local schools had been alerted to continue monitoring the teenager. "At this time, there was no credible cause for an arrest or for further law enforcement action," it continued.

Sheriff calls crime 'pure evil'
 "I want to make it clear that hate will not prevail in this county. (...) Love will prevail over what happened today," said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. He described the crime, which took place on Wednesday morning (local time), as "pure evil".

Teenager charged with murder
A school police officer reportedly confronted the 14-year-old. The teenager had probably feared that there might be a gunfight, lay down on the ground and gave up. Other police officers were quickly on the scene and helped. Investigators announced that the 14-year-old would be charged with murder and treated as an adult.

"He never really said anything"
 A classmate described the teenager as calm. "He never really said anything," Lyela Sayarath told the US broadcaster CNN. He also regularly skipped class. Another student described: "I heard screaming and stuff." She didn't think much of it at first, Janice Martinez continued. But then the noise got louder and louder.

The pupils were gradually evacuated from the school building and gathered at a sports field, as US media reported. Initially, parents were asked not to come to school because of the danger. The schools in the district are to remain closed until the end of the week, the responsible authorities announced.

No connection between shooter and victims
US media had reported that there had been threatening phone calls the morning before the attack. Investigators did not confirm this when asked. According to Sheriff Smith, there is no direct personal connection between the shooter and the victims.

In the USA, fatal shootings are part of everyday life. Firearms are readily available in the USA and are in circulation on a large scale. Major attacks of this kind, for example at schools, supermarkets, nightclubs or large events, regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws - so far without any success.

According to the non-governmental organization Gun Violence Archive, around 11,500 people have lost their lives to gun violence in the USA since the beginning of this year alone - not including suicides.