Volunteer fireman hailed hero after he stops teenage gunman entering school
A VOLUNTEER firefighter stopped a teenager who shot three people outside a South Carolina elementary school after killing his father at their home, authorities said.
The gunman wounded two students and a teacher outside rural Townville Elementary but was apprehended before he could get inside the building, Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper said.
Firefighter Jamie Brock, a 30-year veteran of the Townville Volunteer Fire Department down the road from the school, “just took him down”, the sheriff said. Deputies arrived minutes later.
Mr Brock “wants to remain humble and quiet about it” as he believes “he did nothing any of the other volunteer firefighters wouldn’t have done”, said Scott Stoller with Anderson County Emergency Management.
Regardless, he said: “Firefighter Brock is absolutely a hero.”
Authorities said the shooting spree began on Wednesday afternoon at the teenager’s house about two miles from the school, where he gunned down his 47-year-old father, Jeffrey Osborne.
The suspect’s name or age, beyond saying he is a teenager, have not been released.
Crying and upset, the suspect called his grandmother’s phone at 1.44pm, Anderson County coroner Greg Shore said.
The grandparents went to his home just 100 yards away. When they got there, they found Mr Osborne dead and their grandson gone.
About one minute later, authorities received a 911 call from a teacher at the school in the rural town about 110 miles north east of Atlanta.
The gunman drove a truck into the school car park and immediately started firing as he got out and moved toward the school, Mr Skipper said.
He added he did not know how many shots had been fired in the incident.
One student was shot in the leg and the other in the foot. Both students were male. The female teacher was hit in the shoulder.
“We are heartbroken about this senseless act of violence,” said Joanne Avery, superintendent of Anderson County School District 4.
One of the students and the teacher were released from the hospital on Wednesday evening.
The other student, Jacob Hall, remained in a critical condition.