Police: South Carolina middle school student shot

GREENVILLE, SC – A student was shot and taken to hospital after shooting another student at a middle school in South Carolina on Thursday, authorities said.

Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said the teenage shooter was taken into custody near Tanglewood Middle School shortly after the shooting in front of the school.

“He was in hiding. He was a young man, probably not understanding the consequences of what had just happened,” the sheriff told a news conference. “I don’t think he knew what to do without leaving school.

A police officer at the school called during the shooting and requested an emergency backup around 12:30 p.m., and more than 200 deputies and other law enforcement officers rushed to the school, Lewis said.

Greenville County School spokesman Tim Waller said in a statement that the student’s condition was unknown.

Schoolchildren are being taken to nearby Brookwood Church where parents can pick them up, Waller said.

Helicopter footage from WYFF-TV showed dozens of officers lining up more than two dozen buses outside the school. Some students were slowly getting on the bus.

Deputies are still investigating the shooting and don’t know why it happened, said Greenville County School Superintendent Bark Royster.

“I’m not sure that after a thorough and thorough law enforcement investigation anyone will really know what’s going on in the mind of the young man who did this rash,” Royster said.