The Latest: Superintendent: Training saved students' lives

The Latest: Superintendent: Training saved students' lives


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TOWNVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on a teenager who is accused of killing his father before shooting three people at a school in South Carolina (all times local):

7 p.m.

The superintendent of a South Carolina elementary school where a shooter opened fire says the staff and principal saved lives by flawlessly putting training into practice.

Anderson County 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery said Thursday that all the district's schools conducted active-shooter drills in August and Townville Elementary did another one just last week after a carjacking nearby.

Avery says the training kicked in as the gunman fired at a school door as a class left for recess and struck a first-grade teacher and two students. The injured teacher "was with-it enough" to close the door, lock it and get the students to safety.

Avery says the shooter then fired toward students on the playground but missed. A teacher who heard the first gunshot was able to get the students inside.

The superintendent says staff "put their fear to the side because they put those children first."

Authorities have not named the suspect or given his age other than to say that he is a teenager. But Avery says he attended Townville Elementary until fifth grade before transferring to a nearby district.

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5:15 p.m.

Gov. Nikki Haley is asking South Carolinians to keep the Townville community in their prayers following a school shooting that injured three.

Haley spokeswoman Chaney Adams said Thursday the governor will continue to communicate through the weekend with the families of the two students and teacher shot Wednesday at Townville Elementary in rural Anderson County.

Six-year-old Jacob Hall remains in critical condition at a Greenville hospital. He was hit in a main artery in his thigh.

A student shot in the foot and a teacher shot in the shoulder were released from a hospital Wednesday.

Haley's office says she visited with Jacob's family at the hospital Wednesday night and called the teacher and other student's mother.

Authorities say a teen killed his father before driving to the school and opening fire.

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4:15 p.m.

A hearing has been scheduled for the teen authorities say killed his father before shooting two students and a teacher at a South Carolina elementary school.

Anderson County Clerk of Court Richard Shirley says the teen is set to appear at 11 a.m. Friday in Anderson before Family Court Judge Edgar Long.

At issue is whether the teen will remain in jail or be allowed to go home. He was arrested minutes after he fired at a school door as a class left for recess Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities have not released the teen's name or age.

Six-year-year Jacob Hall remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon at a Greenville hospital.

Another student shot in the foot and a first-grade teacher shot in the shoulder were treated and released Wednesday from a hospital.

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2:45 p.m.

The superintendent of a South Carolina elementary school where a teen opened fire says a teacher and two students were shot as they left the building for recess.

Anderson County District 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery posted online that the shooter never entered Townville Elementary.

Authorities say the shooter opened fire Wednesday afternoon after crashing a pickup truck into the playground fence.

Avery says on the district's website the teen shot at a door being opened for a class exiting for recess. Teachers then led the students to safety inside. She says the school was immediately put on lockdown as per district procedures.

Authorities say volunteer firefighter Jamie Brock tackled the shooter and kept him on the ground until officers arrived and arrested him. Brock says the teachers and principal should be called heroes, not him.

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1:20 p.m.

Authorities say a volunteer firefighter confronted a teenager who shot a teacher and two students at an elementary school, holding him on the ground until police could arrest the teen.

Townville Fire Chief Billy McAdams said during a news conference Thursday that volunteer firefighter Jamie Brock was able to subdue the shooter while McAdams was inside tending to the wounded.

McAdams says Brock told him to go inside because McAdams is a trained paramedic. The chief says he and the school nurse, who had already been tending to the most gravely wounded student, continued tending to that boy until medics arrived to take him by helicopter to a hospital.

Brock subdued the shooter after he and McAdams found a pickup truck crashed into the playground area at the school.

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12:45 p.m.

A South Carolina legislator says the 6-year-old boy in critical condition following a shooting outside his school was hit in a main artery and needed immediate surgery.

Rep. Alan Clemmons says the bullet that hit Jacob Hall tore through his femoral artery, a main artery in the thigh. Clemmons says the boy had to be revived twice, once while being flown to a Greenville hospital and also during surgery after the shooting Wednesday at Townville Elementary.

Clemmons says on his Facebook page the boy required immediate chest surgery to stem the blood flow, and more surgery will be required once his condition stabilizes.

The hospital is expected to update his condition later Thursday.

Clemmons lives in Myrtle Beach. But he says Jacob is the nephew of his friends and former neighbors. He says the family asks for continued prayers.

Authorities say a teenager killed his father before driving to the school and opening fire. Another student and teacher were wounded. They have been treated and released.

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12:20 p.m.

First responders are holding a news conference to discuss a shooting at a South Carolina elementary school where three people were wounded.

Fire officials said on a voicemail message they planned to speak with reporters at 1 p.m. at the Townville Fire Department.

Authorities have said a volunteer firefighter tackled the teen suspect after a shooting Wednesday afternoon at Townville Elementary School.

A teacher and one student were treated and released from a hospital. A second child is in critical condition Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Anderson County Sheriff's Department said that agency had no news conferences planned and that its investigation is ongoing.

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12:15 p.m.

The aunt of a teen suspected of killing his father, then wounding three people in a South Carolina elementary school shooting, says she wishes she could "turn back time."

Mitzi Clark Richards says in a statement provided to WHNS-TV (http://bit.ly/2dumk5i) that she has "no words to express the heartbreak" she feels after the shooting at Townville Elementary School. Richards also said the family planned to release another statement at a news conference later Thursday afternoon.

Richards' nephew is suspected of killing his father, then going several miles to the school, where he opened fire. A student and teacher were treated and released from the hospital. Another student remained in critical condition Thursday.

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12 p.m.

The teacher who was wounded in a school shooting is in her 13th year of teaching.

Townville Elementary School's website says Meghan Hollingsworth has taught first grade since 2007.

Authorities say Hollingsworth was shot in the shoulder Wednesday by a teenager who killed his father before driving to the school and opening fire. A 6-year-old boy was wounded in the shooting and is in critical condition at a hospital. Hollingsworth and another boy who was wounded were treated and released from a hospital.

Hollingsworth has asked people coming to her home to respect her family's privacy. A note on her door says she's not interested in giving any interviews.

According to the school's website, she graduated from the College of Charleston in 2003 and earned her master's in 2007. Her husband is an engineering teacher at the career center for two nearby school districts. They have two children.

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11:10 a.m.

A website set up to raise money for the care of a South Carolina boy hospitalized after being shot at his school has raised more than $13,000.

A GoFundMe page created by friends of Jacob Hall's family posted that amount as of Thursday morning. Organizers said they hoped to raise $50,000 to help pay for the boy's medical expenses.

Jacob remained in critical condition late Thursday morning at a hospital. Hospital officials plan to update his status again Thursday afternoon.

A teacher and another student were treated for gunshot wounds and released.

Officials say a teenager shot the students and the teacher outside the school after killing his father at their home.

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11 a.m.

Authorities are not releasing 911 calls made after they say a teenager killed his father and opened fire at a South Carolina elementary school.

Anderson County Sheriff's Sgt. Laura Johnson said Thursday no audio is being released because it's an ongoing investigation. She did not know when the calls might be made public.

Authorities have said a Townville Elementary teacher called 911 as a teenager began shooting outside the school Wednesday afternoon. The teen was arrested within minutes.

One student remains in critical condition at a Greeneville hospital. Another student and a teacher were treated and released Wednesday from a hospital in Anderson.

Coroner Greg Shore said the teen's grandparents called 911 after finding their son, 47-year-old Jeffrey Osborne, dead in his home. They went to the home after receiving a call from the teen.

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10:40 a.m.

Officials from the South Carolina school where two students and one teacher were wounded in a shooting are praising the "fearless" response of its teachers and staff.

Townville Elementary School also lauded first responders and community members who came to the aid of the school and its children during Wednesday's attack.

Anderson County sheriff's Lt. Sheila Cole says officers and forensic specialists were going back to the school Thursday morning to resume their investigation. Officials say a teenager shot the students and the teacher outside the school after killing his father at their home.

The statement said the school's staff and teachers have practiced drills to prepare for many different events, but it took "quick thinking and common sense to act once an actual event presents on campus."

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10 a.m.

The mother of a teen accused of killing his father and wounding two students and a teacher at a South Carolina elementary school says his family is "shocked and saddened."

In a statement Pastor James South provided to local media outlets, Tiffney Osborne says the family "cannot express the devastation we feel at the loss of our beloved Jeff."

Authorities said the shooting began Wednesday afternoon at the teen's house about 2 miles from the school, where he gunned down his 47-year-old father, Jeffrey Osborne.

Authorities have not released the suspect's name or age beyond saying he's a teen. South says Tiffney Osborne found out about the shooting through media reports.

A volunteer firefighter tackled the teen suspect after the school shooting. A teacher and one student were treated and released from an Anderson hospital. A second child was in critical condition at a hospital in Greenville.

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9:45 a.m.

The South Carolina teacher wounded in a school shooting says she does not want to talk to the media right now.

A note on the door of Townville Elementary School teacher Meghan Hollingsworth's home Thursday morning says her family appreciates people's concern. But she asks those coming to her home to respect their privacy. The note says she's not interested in giving any interviews.

Anderson County sheriff's officials say the teacher and two students were shot Wednesday afternoon by a teenager after he killed his father at their home. She and one of the students were treated and released from a hospital. The second student was in critical condition in Greenville Memorial Hospital.

A volunteer fighter responding to a dispatch call tackled the teen who deputies think did the shooting.

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9:15 a.m.

Anderson County sheriff's deputies are returning to an elementary school where they say a teenager shot two students and a teacher after killing his father at their home.

Sheriff's Lt. Sheila Cole said officers and forensic specialists are going back to Townville Elementary School on Thursday morning to resume their investigation.

A volunteer firefighter tackled the teen suspect after the shooting Wednesday afternoon. A teacher and one student were treated and released from an Anderson hospital. A second child was in critical condition at a hospital in Greenville.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting.

Authorities believe the teen shot and killed his father before going to the school. Officials said the teen had called his grandparents just before going to the school. The grandparents went to the house and found the boy's father dead.

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2:50 a.m.

Authorities say a volunteer firefighter stopped a teenager who shot two students and a teacher outside a South Carolina elementary school after killing his father at home.

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper says the shooter wounded the students and the teacher Wednesday afternoon outside rural Townville Elementary but was apprehended before he could get inside the building.

Skipper says firefighter Jamie Brock "just took him down." Brock is a 30-year veteran of the Townville Volunteer Fire Department just down the road from the school and arrived before other officers responding to a 911 call from the school.

Deputies arrived minutes later.

Authorities say they don't yet know a motive for the shooting and they weren't sure if the students and teacher were targeted.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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