A teenager is believed to have shot and killed his father before going to a nearby elementary school in South Carolina and wounding two children and a teacher on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
A teacher called 911 to report a gunman and police arrived within seven minutes at Townville Elementary School in Anderson County, located near the Georgia state line about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Atlanta.
One of the six-year-old children shot was in critical condition and in surgery at Greenville Memorial Hospital, Scott Stoller, Anderson County’s director of emergency services, told the Anderson Independent Mail.
Juana Slade, spokeswoman for AnMed Health Medical Center, said they were treating one adult woman and a boy. Both were in good condition, Slade said.
Authorities said the dead male victim is believed to be 47 years old. Both students were boys and the teacher was an adult woman. One student was shot in the leg and the other was shot in the foot. The teacher was shot in the shoulder, authorities said. Both the shooter and all victims were white.
Anderson County Sheriff's Office Captain Garland Major did not know the relationship between the shooter and those injured at the school. He said a handgun was used but would not say where exactly the shooting occurred or how the shooter entered the school.
Governor Nikki Haley is due to meet with law enforcement officials in the area this evening, Anderson County emergency services director Taylor Jones said.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)