"Shooting suspect in custody at Atlanta-area school"

Michael King, WXIA-TV 4:08 p.m. EDT August 20, 2013
All students at Ronald E. McNair academy in DeKalb County are safe. No injuries reported.

A suspect was taken into custody Tuesday moments after police responded to a call of shots being fired at an Atlanta-area school, DeKalb County officials said.

A SWAT team rushed to the scene at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, but schools spokesperson Quinn Hudson said no injuries were reported. The suspect issued undisclosed demands, Hudson said.

All students were accounted for, school officials said.

Acting schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond said the suspect had fired at least one shot, and that gunfire was returned by officers. County Assistant Police Chief Dale Holmes says that the suspect was not injured before he was taken into custody. Holmes says police are taking the suspect to police headquarters for interrogation.

DeKalb County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kyle Jones described the suspect as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, wearing black clothes and armed with an assault rifle.

Skycam images show students running from the rear of building, and police with weapons drawn outside.

Hudson said all of the students have been accounted for. Once reports of the suspect came in, the students evacuated into a field behind the school. Hudson said students then were taken to a nearby Walmart to be reunited with their parents.

The school, an elementary charter school in the Candler-McAfee area of DeKalb County, opened five years ago and has an enrollment of 870, according to the school website.

Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY in McLean, Va.


Police secure an entrance following a reported shooting at Ronald McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Ga., on Aug. 20. A spokesperson with DeKalb County Schools says a lone shooting suspect was taken into custody.


Staff and students exit a building after a reported shooting at Ronald McNair Discovery Learning Academy. 11Alive-WXIA


More staff and students gather outside. 11Alive-WXIA


Police secure the area after the reported shooting at Ronald McNair Discovery Learning Academy. 11Alive-WXIA

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/20/ga-school-gunfire-dekalb/2677507/