Suspect in Custody After Shots Fired at McNair Discovery Learning Academy

Officials with DeKalb County Schools told parents to pick up students at the Walmart near Gresham Road and I-20.

This is a breaking story.  WABE will have more later during All Things Considered, and we will post information here as it becomes available.

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UPDATE 2:30 p.m. — WABE’s Martha Dalton is on the scene and reports that the area around the school has been cordoned off and no one is being allowed in.  The police are using the Walmart parking lot at Gresham Road and I-20 as a makeshift headquarters for the operation.  Some parents who spoke with WABE expressed anxiety because they have had to wait for over an hour with no information about what’s happening at the school.

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UPDATE 2:50 p.m. — Parents of students at Ronald McNair Discover Learning Academy are asked to pick up their children at the Walmart Supercenter on Gresham Road near I-20. 

A press conference is expected momentarily.  WABE’s Jonathan Shapiro and Martha Dalton will be reporting live from the scene on 90.1 FM.

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UPDATE 3:05 p.m. — Martha Dalton just tweeted a photo from the scene of the parents waiting for their children to arrive from the Ronald McNair Discover Learning Academy. The children are being bussed from the school to the Walmart at Gresham Road and I-20.

We are still waiting for a press conference by officials from the DeKalb police and the DeKalb school system.

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UPDATE 3:20 p.m. — Martha Dalton tweets that DeKalb officials say that all students and teachers are safe.  No one was injured in the shooting.

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UPDATE 3:23 p.m. — WABE’s Rose Scott says DeKalb officials have told her that the press conference about the shooting at McNair Discover Learning Academy will not take place until after all of the students have been transported by bus from the school to the Walmart Supercenter on Gresham Road.

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UPDATE 4:10 p.m. — Martha Dalton just tweeted a picture of the buses arriving with the students at the Walmart Supercenter, to the relief of the waiting parents.

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UPDATE 4:20 p.m. — Here is audio of the report that was just filed by Martha Dalton and broadcast on WABE FM 90.1.

Parents told us that many of them found out about the shooting from neighbors and news reports instead of from any kind of messages from the school.  WABE’s Jonathan Shapiro spoke with a DeKalb County Schools official who said the school had its own emergency notification policy and that he was unable to address what the school did.

A live report by WABE's Martha Dalton from the parking lot of the Walmart where students from the McNair Discover Learning Academy are being transported by bus and reunited with their parents.

Parents also expressed surprise that a gunman could have made his way into the school. They said that they have to ring a door bell and show ID to get in. One parent said they can’t even bring birthday cakes to the school, so they wonder how a gunman could have gotten in.

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UPDATE 4:40 p.m. — Martha Dalton just tweeted another picture of buses arriving with the students, safe and sound.

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UPDATE 5:30 p.m. — WABE has confirmed with authorities that the weapon used by the gunman was an AK-47 assault rifle.

Denis O'Hayer and Martha Dalton discuss what is known at this moment (5:44 p.m.) about the shooting at the Ronald E. McNair Discover Learning Academy in DeKalb County.

UPDATE 6:00 p.m. — Denis O’Hayer, in his 5:44 segment, talks with Martha Dalton about the shooting at McNair Discover Learning Academy in DeKalb County. 

To summarize: we have confirmed that the suspect is a 19-year-old, and that he was carrying an AK-47.  Fearful of the possibility of explosives, law enforcement officials brought in bomb-sniffing dogs to check the suspect’s car.  No explosives have been found.  Parents say they’re puzzled as to how the suspect was able to get in the school when they themselves have trouble getting in the school. DeKalb schools superintendent Michael Thurmond said that he was pleased with the response at the school and was relieved no one had been hurt. The name of the suspect has not been released so far, nor has a motive been given.