MESSAGE BOARD: School shootings Guns under fire

May 20, 1999
Web posted at: 9:28 a.m. EDT (1328 GMT)

CONYERS, Georgia (CNN) -- At least six people were injured Thursday in a shooting at a high school in suburban Atlanta. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, authorities said. One person, believed to be a student, is in custody. The suspect has not been identified.

The shots were fired about 8 a.m., just before the start of classes at Heritage High School which has about 1,300 students. The school is in Conyers, Georgia, about 30 miles east of Atlanta.

The injured were taken to local hospitals.

Authorities in Rockdale County said the person who fired the shots was taken into custody almost immediately.

William Britt, a senior at the school, told CNN affiliate WSB-TV that he recognized the gunman as a student. According to Britt, 18, the shooter was armed with a "pump 22" shotgun and was also carrying a handgun.

After opening fire, Britt said, the gunman pointed the handgun into his mouth but did not pull the trigger.

Student William Britt says he heard gun shots in the school halls 374K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

There was no immediate word on a motive.

Police secured the high school and students were evacuated to a nearby football field.

Bill Price, a sophomore at Heritage, witnessed some of the gunfire, but said he was too far away to see who was shooting. The gunman was outside "the girl's bathroom, in the commons area, just firing off shots," he told WSB-TV. "He was going to take off running ... but they stopped him before he did."

Kate Whiting, a junior, told WSB-TV she arrived just after the shots were fired. As she drove up, other students warned her away, she said.

"They told me, "Leave, get out, somebody has a gun and they're shooting."'

The shooting comes one month to the day after the massacre at Columbine High School in the Denver suburb of Littleton in which two high school students murdered 13 people in a shooting rampage.

President Bill Clinton was due to visit Littleton on Thursday to console students and families of victims.

CNN affiliate WSB-TV contributed to this report

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