A 17-year-old female student at Grady High School in midtown Atlanta has been arrested after accidentally shooting herself while on campus Wednesday morning.
Authorities say senior Morgan Tukes was carrying a .380-caliber handgun. After accidently discharging the gun into her upper thigh, Tukes was taken to Grady Hospital in stable condition. Hours later, she was transferred to Fulton County Jail.
Authorities are still investigating why Tukes brought the gun to school.
In an afternoon news conference, Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis said the girl arrived to school late and was let in through a gym entrance by fellow students, thereby circumventing all metal detectors.
The shooting occurred at around 9:40 a.m. in an outside courtyard area, between the gym and the main building, according to Davis. He said after the shot was fired, Tukes was able to walk to the school clinic. An ambulance was called and she was taken to Grady Hospital.
Tukes now faces charges of carrying a weapon within a school safety zone, reckless conduct, possession of a pistol by a minor, and disruption of a public school.
Shortly after the gun was fired, the school was put on emergency lockdown and a robo-text message was sent to parents about a shooting on campus.
It led to a frantic few hours for many.
“It was complete panic,” said Brunilda Nazario, who has a daughter in the tenth grade. “I dropped what I was doing and just ran here and then on the way here she let me know she was okay and everyone was on lockdown.”
Nazario said she was “astonished” a gun could make it onto campus just a month after a shooting incident in a south Atlanta middle school.
“Certainly what’s happening to our children needs to be addressed. It can’t continue. Someone needs to take control. It just needs to stop,” said Nazario.
Several police vehicles responded to the scene. At about noon, the lockdown was lifted and the school returned to its normal schedule. By then, dozens of anxious parents had arrived to campus. All were eventually allowed to take their kids home early.
Superintendent Davis, speaking before reporters, said the incident was frustrating.
“Our schools were not designed to be fortresses. They were designed to be places of learning and so the more closely that we can move to the root causes of these issues, then we don’t have to prevent them or guard against them.”
He said schools can only control so much.
“We’re living in a society where people are advocating easier and easier access to guns and this state is one where people do have access to guns and my sense is that kids may see guns at home, they may see them elsewhere, but school is certainly no place for a gun.”
Davis said he’s already offered a plan to the school board to add a full-time officer at every school to better spot kids with emotional issues. That plan is currently under review.
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