Accidental Shooting at Grady High School

Breaking News – Updated 12 p.m.:  WABE has been told that the soft lockdown at Grady High School is continuing.  However, our reporter Jonathan Shapiro says he has seen parents arriving to pick up their kids. 

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis is going to provide an update for the press at 12:15 PM, and we will be covering it.

In the meanwhile, we have received the following statement from the Atlanta Public Schools:



Atlanta Public Schools Safety and Security, along with the Atlanta Police Department, report that at approximately 9:45am, an Atlanta Public Schools student has suffered a gunshot injury at Grady High School, and has been transported to Grady Hospital.  Grady High School has been placed on lockdown and all other students are safe. This is currently a police matter, and APS security and APD officers are on the scene. 

The school immediately moved into crisis management mode, alerting parents and working hand in hand with the APD.  Parents were contacted via phone call, text and email, twice, within one hour of the incident.  Normal classes will resume at 12:00 noon and normal dismissal procedures will be followed. 

Superintendent Erroll Davis is on site at Grady High School and will speak to media in front of the school at approximately 12:15pm.  Grady High School is located at 929 Charles Allen Dr., NE, Atlanta, GA  30309. 

Keeping you informed about your child’s safety is a top priority at Atlanta Public Schools, and we will continue to provide parents with updates as information becomes available.

We have also seen tweets from parents of Grady students thanking APS for their robo-calls and tweets alerting them to the situation at the school.

Earlier Update:  Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Steve Alford tells WABE’s Jonathan Shapiro that Grady High School is now on a soft lockdown until noon. That means students are staying put in the classrooms where they are currently.  Students can’t change classes until noon when Grady High School will return to normal schedule.

Jonathan Shapiro also reports a handful of parents have arrived at Grady to pick up their children. Officials say they won’t be able to do that until the soft lockdown is lifted.

Preliminary reports, according to Alford, indicate the student who shot herself never entered the school with the gun. The student was apparently late to school. The shooting happened outside of the school building in front of Grady’s gym in a courtyard area.

Alford told Jonathan Shapiro Grady High School’s metal detectors are working and operational.

Earlier Update:  APD has told WABE that the shooting incident at Grady High School is considered over and that the school is no longer on hard lockdown. 

WABE has received the following statement from Carlos Campos of the Atlanta Police Department:

  Around 9:40am today, Atlanta Police responded to a shooting call at Grady High School.  Upon arrival, Officers found a 17 year old female student had been shot. The shooting occurred on campus outside between buildings, not inside the school building.

Preliminary information is that the gunshot was accidental and self-inflicted. She has a wound to her upper leg.  The student was transported to Grady Hospital in stable condition.  The incident is over and a weapon has been recovered.  Police continue to investigate.  At this time there is no reason to believe there is an active shooter on campus or other injuries to students.  

Earlier Update:  Atlanta Public Schools has confirmed that a female African-American 12th grade student shot herself in the upper thigh this morning in the courtyard of Grady High School.  The student has been transported to Grady Hospital.  Atlanta police officers are on the scene and the gun is in the possession of school detectives.

The school itself is on hard lockdown.  APS reports that they have one parent witness.

WABE’s Jonathan Shapiro is on the scene.  We will update this story as more information becomes available.

Original post:  Officials with the Atlanta Public Schools and the Atlanta Police Department confirm a Grady High School student has suffered a gunshot wound.

A student sending a text messages to WABE say it was female senior student that shot herself in the leg/thigh area and then might have suffered a seizure.

The school is on lock-down.