Injured students are airlifted to Atlanta-area hospitals RELATED VIDEO CNN's Sean Callebs describes the shooting (May 20) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K  ALSO: Coping with the fear factor  MESSAGE BOARD: School shootings Guns under fire INTERACTIVE Recent school shootings  SPECIALS: Are schools safe?

May 20, 1999
Web posted at: 8:05 p.m. EDT (0005 GMT)

In this story: Two weapons recovered Tearful surrender Motive? Columbine 'copycat'? RELATED STORIES, SITES

CONYERS, Georgia (CNN) -- A 15-year-old sophomore who opened fire Thursday at Heritage High School in suburban Atlanta, wounding six students, later broke down in tears as he surrendered to an assistant principal.

The most seriously injured student, Stephanie Laster, 15, underwent surgery for a bullet that hit her in the buttocks and passed through to her intestines.

The five others -- four boys and a girl -- had only superficial wounds. Two boys were released after receiving hospital treatment.

The gunman, whose name has not been released because of his age, was being held at the Rockdale County Sheriff's Department. His parents, said by one deputy to be "in a state of shock," also were there.

School Superintendent Donald Peccia said the sophomore had not been in trouble before. "We had no reason to suspect this student at all," he said.

Two weapons recovered

Rockdale County Sheriff Jeff Wigington said two weapons were recovered, a handgun and a .22-caliber rifle. Authorities were investigating how the gunman obtained them.

The school was searched for bombs as a precaution but no explosive devices were found.

Wigington said two firearms were recovered at the crime scene

There was no immediate word on a motive for the shootings, which came just before the start of classes on the last day of school for seniors at Heritage.

The school, which has about 1,300 students, is in Conyers, Georgia, about 30 miles east of Atlanta.

Students gathered outside the school on a track after the shooting, then boarded buses to head home.

Peccia said classes on Friday would be canceled, but that Heritage High's graduation ceremony will go on as scheduled May 28.

Tearful surrender

The incident started at 8:03 a.m. in the School Commons, a break area for students where hundreds generally gather before class, and ended 12 minutes later, said Rockdale County Commission Chairman Norman Wheeler.

He said a quick emergency response prevented a worse tragedy.

Sophomore Joe Watts, who said he knows the gunman, said that after a flurry of gunfire inside the school, the suspect ran outside, dropping the rifle as he fled.

Once outside, he pulled out the handgun, dropped to his knees and put it in his mouth, witnesses said. "He put the revolver in his mouth, but he didn't shoot himself," said senior William Britt.

As Assistant Principal Cecil Brinkley spoke to the gunman outside, the youth broke down in tears, according to Watts. "He was saying over and over, 'I'm so scared' and he was crying," Watts said.

Injured students are airlifted to Atlanta-area hospitals

Motive?

Student Nathaniel Deeter, 15, said the gunman had broken up with his girlfriend three weeks ago and since then had told Deeter, "I have no reason to live anymore."

"I told him he was crazy," Deeter said. "I thought he was just feeling sorry for himself because a lot of kids feel like that."

Chris Dunn, a sophomore, said he had seen guns at the student's home but had never heard him mention plans to shoot anyone at school.

But Katie Bir, a freshman and a friend of the gunman's girlfriend, said, "People have been saying he's been wanting to do this all year long."

Dunn said the gunman's grades had fallen recently. "He wasn't even trying anymore, which I was kind of concerned about."

Heritage High has no metal detectors but does employ a campus policeman, and some areas of the school are equipped with surveillance cameras.

Columbine 'copycat'?

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 to visit Littleton on Thursday to console students and families of victims.

Before leaving Washington, he called the Georgia shootings "deeply troubling."

"This incident again should underscore how profoundly important it is that all Americans come together in the face of these events to protect all of our children from violence," the president said.

Attorney General Janet Reno referred to the Conyers shooting as a "copycat" shooting.

"When we see some of these copycat events, it is because people want attention and they want to have a focus on them. I think this is indicative of again the need to reach out to young people and to try to address what causes this," Reno said at a Washington news conference.

"Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims, to their families, and our hearts go out with wishes for quick recovery," she said.

The shooting occurred during a week in which the Senate has been debating laws that would strengthen requirements for background checks for gun buyers. "We have got to do this," Clinton said.

CNN affiliate WSB-TV contributed to this report

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.