The ongoing tragic Apalachee High School shooting has indescribably broken many families, friends, and the entire nation. Per CNN, four people are confirmed to have been killed. Additionally, NBC reported that, as of this writing, at least nine others are wounded. Currently, the conditions of the injured are largely unknown. However, one anonymous student confirmed that at least one of her classmates was among the deceased.
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Accordingly, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation added a definitive post about the tragedy and its numbers on the agency's X (formerly known as Twitter) account. "Update: Four dead. An additional nine taken to various hospitals with injuries. Suspect in custody and alive. Reports that the suspect has been 'neutralized' are inaccurate."
Various accounts are coming out of the horrific shooting. Local WXIA reporters managed to get in touch with some of the affected students and parents. A neighbor of one of the students described the immediate reaction. "He's like, 'They're shooting, they're shooting right across from my classroom,'" the neighbor recalled. "He called his mom devastated, I'm sure."
Moreover, NBC spoke to the mother of a freshman at the school. One of her daughter's friends recounted someone banging on the classroom's door, saying, "Open the f--ing door, let us in." That was followed by "gunpowder, gun shells, and blood everywhere."
"I literally stopped everything and took off just to be here," the mother stated. "My heart was just breaking because my daughter wasn't responding to her texts or phone calls. It was terrifying."
Four People Are Confirmed Dead In The Apalachee High School Shooting
Furthermore, a 14-year-old girl added her own heartbreaking perspective. "I was crying, I didn't want to die that way. I don't want to meet the Lord that way."
"If something like this can happen here, when you think it's a normal day, it can happen anywhere and that's what really hurts," said a 10th grader. "I heard that a kid my age that I was close to, he passed away today."
Subsequently, more updates will be made available as we at Wide Open Country receive them. Altogether, this tragedy, for many, is only just beginning, and the victims and their families should get as much support as possible.
