Two students and two teachers killed in school shooting in Georgia – as 14-year-old suspect held
A 14-year-old suspect is in custody after a school shooting in the US state of Georgia, in which two students and two teachers were killed.
The shooting took place at Apalachee High School, situated in Winder in Barrow County – around 50 miles from the city of Atlanta.
The suspect is a 14-year-old student at the school, Chris Hosey, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. He said the suspect would be tried as an adult.
Officers said they heard about the incident just before 9.30am local time, and responders from “multiple law enforcement agencies” were sent to the high school “in reference to a reported active shooting”.
The school was placed on lockdown, but this has now been cleared and pupils released to their families.
Dozens of police swarmed the campus and students rushed for shelter in the football stadium.
Local TV stations showed images of parents lining up in cars on a road outside the school, hoping to be reunited with their children.
Pic: WSB via AP
Camille Nelms said she was shedding tears when a gunman opened fire on her classroom.
As bullets came flying into her classroom, the teacher and students tried to take shelter in the corner.
“I was crying, I didn’t want to die that way,” Nelms told NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta. “I don’t want to meet the Lord that way.”
Student Jacob King said he had dozed off in his world history class after morning football practice when he heard about 10 gunshots.
He said he did not believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. He said when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student.
First responders gather at Apalachee High School. Pic: ABC Affiliate WSB via Reuters
Ashley Enoh was at home on Wednesday morning when she got a text from her brother, who is a senior at Apalachee High.
The message said: “Just so you know, I love you.”
When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a gunman at the school.
The shooting sparked a stampede, according to local media reports.
The Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith initially told reporters: “Multiple people were wounded in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder”.
Students and staff gather next to the football field after the shooting. Pic: ABC Affiliate WSB via REUTERS
He described the investigation as “very, very fluid” and it was in the early stages.
“What you see behind us is an evil thing today,” Sheriff Smith said.
“I want to give our sympathies to our community, our school system, our kids, our parents that had to witness this today.”
US President Joe Biden, who has been briefed on the incident, said in a statement he and his wife, Jill “are mourning the deaths” and said: “What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart.
“Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”
Mr Biden urged Republicans to work with Democrats to pass “common-sense gun safety legislation.”
As the incident unfolded, Governor Brian Kemp said: “I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state.”
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Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and ATF, are on the scene.
The shooting was the first “planned attack” of the new school year in the US, David Reidman, who runs the K-12 School Shooting Database, said.
Apalachee High School, which had an enrollment of nearly 1,900 last year, began classes on 1 August.
US
Donald Trump plans to hit Canada with new tariff – while warning of blanket hike for other countries
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
Mr Trump has sent a series of tariff letters to 23 countries so far, including one putting a 50% tariff on Brazil in part for the ongoing trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro for trying to stay in office after he lost the election in 2022.
Mr Trump was similarly indicted for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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But in an interview with Sky News’s partner network NBC News, Mr Trump said he plans to impose higher blanket tariffs on most US trade partners.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
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The US president also teased a “major statement” he will make on Russia over its war with Ukraine.
“I’m disappointed in Russia, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday.”
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It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
The 30-year-old graduate student at Columbia University told Sky News’s lead world presenter Yalda Hakim being detained by ICE agents in March “felt like kidnapping”.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
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‘Absolutely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.
He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.
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