Teen charged as juvenile with murder, attempted murder in Upstate school shooting
- by Erica Wilson
- in Local
- — Oct 4, 2016
ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) - A 14-year-old SC boy was charged as a juvenile Friday with murder and three counts of attempted murder after authorities say he killed his father and opened fire on students at a school playground, wounding three people.
The suspect is accused of killing his 47-year-old father and shooting two students and a teacher at Townville Elementary in Anderson County.
One of the students shots on a school playground at Townville Elementary School southwest of Greenville, South Carolina is fighting for his life.
The shot teacher and another student who was hit in the foot were treated and released from a hospital, officials said.
Authorities say the teenager killed his own father on Wednesday and drove a pickup truck a few miles to Townville Elementary, where he started firing a handgun.
An Anderson County judge has charged a teen with murder and three counts of attempted murder after the Townville shootings on Wednesday.
Jamie Meredith, a student's mother, said some of the children went into a bathroom during the shooting. She cancelled classes at the school for the rest of the week.
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Instead the grandparents found their son - the teen's father - dead in the home. "This incident occurred in the school where our children and the children of the community attend", Townville Fire Chief Billy McAdams said Thursday during a news conference, pausing to keep his emotions in check.
It appeared he was headed toward the school, but teachers locked doors to prevent him from getting in, authorities said.
A family friend told CBS News the 14-year-old boy had home-schooled after being suspended for bringing a weapon to school within the past two years. During a press conference on Thursday, relatives said Jacob suffered massive blood loss and was on life support, too weak now for additional surgeries, WHNS-TV reported.
Greenville Health spokeswoman Sandy Dees said Jacob Hall was still critical Friday afternoon. The other injured boy, Jacob Hall, was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital and is in critical condition after he was shot through his femoral artery.
Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper said earlier that Brock, a 30-year veteran of the Townville Volunteer Fire Department, "just took him down" and stopped the teen before he could get inside the school.
Anderson 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery said staff saved lives by flawlessly implementing active-shooter training drills conducted with students over the past few years - at Townville Elementary, most recently just last week. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley visited the Halls at the hospital on Wednesday night and also called for prayers for the boy's recovery.
The school has about 300 students in its pre-kindergarten to sixth-grade classrooms. The hospital will release more details about his death, the coroner said.
