Investigators are still sorting out what happened to spark a shooting outside a Gadsden elementary school Thursday morning that left one person dead. According to the report, The incident happened at about 9:30 a.m. outside Walnut Park Elementary School where a summer literacy camp for elementary-age children was taking place. Gadsden City School Superintendent Tony Reddick said 34 children were in the school at the time of the incident.
Etowah County Sheriff Jonathan Horton said a resident called Attalla police reporting a suspicious man outside the school. According to Reddick, the man was trying to get into vehicles and “aggressively” tried to open several doorways. The school went into lockdown, following protocols, Reddick said. It’s unclear what touched off the incident.
A school resource officer on site responded, talked with the man, and called for backup. When a second officer arrived, an altercation ensued. The suspect was then fatally shot. Officials have not said if the man was armed.
Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton told The Gadsden Times that a police officer from nearby Rainbow City was working as a school resource officer and encountered the person, got involved in an altercation, and called for backup, Horton said. At least one other officer responded and the person was shot to death.
No students were hurt, sheriff’s officials said. “All kids are out” of the building, Reddick said, and most didn’t even realize something had happened. “We don’t know the potential of what could have happened had those two officers not responded the way they did, so we very much commend them for that,” Reddick said.
Authorities didn’t immediately release the identity of the person who was killed or any details about the altercation, including whether the person who died was armed or why they might have been trying to get into the school. The Rainbow City officer suffered minor injuries, Horton said. Gadsden is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Birmingham.
