TOWNVILLE, S.C. (AP) – 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 shooter wounded two students and a teacher Wednesday afternoon 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 too him down,” the sheriff said. Deputies arrived minutes later. Brock says he doesn’t want the attention.
Authorities said the shooting spree began at the teen’s house about two miles from the school, where he gunned down his 47-year-old father, Jeffrey Osborne. Authorities have not released the suspect’s name or age beyond saying he’s a teen.
Crying and upset, the teen called his grandmother’s cellphone at 1:44 p.m., Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.
The grandparents couldn’t understand what was going on, so they went to his home just 100 yards away. When they got there, they found Osborne dead and their grandson gone.
About one minute later, authorities received a 911 call from a teacher at the school in this rural town about 110 miles northeast of Atlanta.
The shooter drove a truck into the school parking lot and immediately started firing as he got out and moved toward the school, Skipper said. He did not know who the truck the teen drove was registered to and declined to say how many shots were fired.
One student was shot in the leg and the other in the foot, Capt. Garland Major with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said. Both students were male. The female teacher was hit in the shoulder.