Teenager Kills His Father And Then Attacks A Nearby School

Another senseless act involving a gun took place this week in a rural town around 110 miles from Atlanta. A teenager gunned down his 47-year old father, Jeffrey Osborne, and then went to a nearby elementary school, Townville Elementary, and opened fire with a handgun.

He wounded two students and a teacher but was fortunately apprehended within minutes of the shooting.

According to Capt. Garland Major with the Anderson County sheriff’s office, both students were male. The female teacher was hit in the shoulder.

“We are heartbroken about this senseless act of violence,” said Joanne Avery, superintendent of Anderson County School District 4. Classes have been cancelled for the rest of the week.

Asked about the teen’s relationship to the students, Capt. Major said “I know they all go to school together.” He later said the teen was being homeschooled.

Townville Elementary has about 300 students in its pre-kindergarten to sixth-grade classrooms.

Jamie Meredith, a student’s mother, said some of the children went into a bathroom during the shooting.

“I don’t know how they knew to go in the bathroom, but I know her teacher was shaken up. I know all the kids were scared. There was a bunch of kids crying. She didn’t talk for about 5 minutes when I got her,” she said.

Gov. Nikki Haley released a statement: “As we work together with law enforcement to make sure they have the support they need to investigate what happened in Townville, Michael and I ask that everyone across South Carolina join us in praying for the entire Townville Elementary School family and those touched by today’s tragedy.”