A 14-year-old was taken into police custody Wednesday afternoon in connection with two shootings, one at an elementary school.
Shortly before 2 p.m., first responders were alerted of a possible shooting at the elementary school on Osborne Drive in Townville. Police told reporters in a press conference later that a female teacher and two students were shot on the playground outside the Townville Elementary School in Anderson County, S.C., in the northwestern part of the Palmetto State.
Jamie Brock, a 30-year veteran volunteer firefighter, took down the suspect on the playground. The unarmed off-duty firefighter tackled the teen immediately after the shooter opened fire and held the person down until police arrived, school and police officials said at the press conference. A handgun was recovered at the scene.
The SWAT team, South Carolina Highway Patrol, Anderson Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s deputies, Oconee County Sheriff’s deputies and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division were also on the scene. Authorities were spotted by news helicopters running across the school’s roof. The building was declared safe at 3 p.m., but all roads surrounding the school property were closed off to the public. The school will be closed for the rest of the week, the Anderson District 4 superintendent said in the press conference.
Two 6-year-olds and a female elementary teacher were wounded in the shooting, but officials did not say whether the injuries were shooting-related or sustained at another point in the incident. One student has been listed in critical condition and was air-lifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital, according to Scott Stoller, Anderson County’s director of emergency personnel services. The other child and teacher were taken to AnMed Health Medical Center with less severe injuries, and both have been released, according to Fox-Carolina.
The school’s estimated 300 students were bused to Oakdale Baptist Church nearby, where parents were urged to pick up their children. The buses were escorted by law enforcement officials.
Shortly after the school incident, first responders received a call about another shooting at a local residence. Jeffrey D. Osborne was found fatally shot in his home a mile and a half away from the school. The two incidents are “believed to be related,” Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore told the Independent Mail. Police told Fox Carolina that Osborne is the father of the teenager in custody.
The suspect called his grandmother at 1:44 p.m., moments before the school incident, sobbing and rambling. Shore also said. When the grandparents went next door to the boy’s house, they found the father with a gunshot wound.
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) September 28, 2016
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to travel to Anderson County’s regional airport to give remarks at a press conference later this evening.
Governor has been delayed, is on the way to Anderson for press conference later, first conference expected around 5 pm.
— Mike Ellis (@MikeEllis_AIM) September 28, 2016
“My heart is sick for Anderson, South Carolina. Praying initial reports of no loss of life remain true & for those injured and their families,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
