TOWNVILLE, SC – Anderson County deputies say there was a shooting at Townville Elementary School around 1:44 p.m. Wednesday.
Deputy Chief Keith Smith says the incident happened on the playground behind the school and the shooter never entered the school.
Anderson District 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery said one teen suspect was taken in custody and there is no longer an active threat.
Deputies say there is no known relationship between the suspect and the victims.
The suspect is home-schooled and is not a student at any school in the Anderson County School District.
A family friend says he was expelled from his school last year for bringing a hatchet to school and attacking a child.
Deputies say they were on scene within seven minutes and the suspect was apprehended on the school grounds before 2 p.m.The initial apprehension was made by firefighter Jamie Brock, a 30-year veteran of the Townville Volunteer Fire Department.
Officials say the staff and students were evacuated from the school within moments.
Townville Elementary does not have a contract School Resource Officer; however, the school is equipped with security cameras and a secured door system, according to deputies.
Two 6-year-old students and one teacher were hurt and taken to hospitals, according to Taylor Jones with Anderson County Emergency Services.
One student was shot in leg, another student shot in the foot and the teacher was shot in the shoulder, Garland Major with the Anderson Sheriff’s Department says.
Jacob Hall, 6, is listed in critical condition at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Hall’s family released a statement through the hospital:
“We appreciate the community’s support, especially the Townville Rescue Squad who treated Jacob onsite and brought him to the hospital,” said Rodger and Renae Hall, Jacob’s parents. “We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and ask for privacy during this difficult time.”
A female teacher and a boy were released from AnMed hospital.
Mike Ellis with the Independent Mail is reporting that the teacher who was shot is Meghan Hollingsworth.
Major says the teen was armed with a handgun.
Investigators believe a homicide that happened three miles away from the school that investigators has also been connected to the teen shooting suspect. The victim was 47-year-old Jeffrey Dwight Osborne. The coroner says the victim was the father of the suspected shooter and he was found dead from a gunshot wound.
SC Highway Patrol and Oconee County Sheriff’s Office worked to help clear rooms and secure the scene. Video footage showed deputies on the roof of the school with their weapons drawn.
Governor Nikki Haley released the following statement in response to the shooting in Townville:
“As we work together with law enforcement to make sure they have the support they need to investigate what happened in Townville, Michael and I ask that everyone across South Carolina join us in praying for the entire Townville Elementary School family and those touched by today’s tragedy.
Students were bused to Oakdale Baptist Church on Hwy 24, where parents were asked to pick them up.
Townville Elementary had about 300 students in its pre-kindergarten to sixth-grade classrooms last year, according to its annual state report card last spring.
Anderson District 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery said school has been cancelled for the rest of the week.
