Student shot at Greenville high school

A student was shot Friday morning in a crowded cafeteria at Southside High School, Greenville School District officials confirmed on Friday morning.

The incident occurred before school started, said Southside student Claudio Davila-Gonzalez. He said he was seated a few feet from the victim when he heard the shot. The student was initially taken to the school nurse and then transported by EMS.

The incident has been confirmed as an accidental shooting, according to Greenville County Schools spokeswoman Beth Brotherton. The shooting victim was in possession of the gun, Brotherton said.

"He is conscious and talking," she said.

Sgt. Jennings Autrey of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said deputies got a 911 call about a possible gunshot victim at the school just after 8:30 a.m.

"Numerous deputies responded and located a victim with at least one gunshot wound," Autrey said.

About 10 a.m., the school district released a statement saying there was no threat to the area. Deputies were sweeping the school, but there was no active search for a suspect, the statement said.

After the gunshot, "everybody started freaking out," Davila-Gonzalez said. "We thought it was like they were playing around, but then he started bleeding for real."

After the shot was fired, "One guy got up and then the other guy got up and he was holding his stomach and I think he was bleeding so the other guy helped him out."

Davila-Gonzalez said he was about seven feet away from the incident at an adjacent table.

Another student, Jasmin Garcia, had just gotten to school and was walking into the cafeteria when she said she heard a gunshot.

Garcia said her classmates started scattering in all directions. Some ran toward the shooter, Garcia said, but she said the principal stopped them and told everyone to go to their classrooms.

“I thought he was just doing it for the attention,” Garcia said, until she saw the gunshot victim pull his shirt up. He was bleeding and holding his stomach, she said.

Students were evacuated about 8:30 a.m. and herded onto the football field, where police searched every student to make sure no one had any weapons, according to Garcia.

Then parents started getting phone calls.

Kadejdra Klugh was in a line of cars waiting to get to the school: "My daughter is scared. Help me get my daughter. Why are they holding my kids hostage? They are scared, and they need their mother."

Kitina Jamison said her son called from the football field and told her that someone was shooting in the school. "He said, 'come pick me up, Mama,'" Jamison said.

"That's the worst thing a parent wants to hear," she said.

According to scanner reports, the Sheriff's Office was releasing deputies from the scene who are not assigned to a specific task. Some witnesses also were being taken to the Law Enforcement Center for questioning, according to scanner reports.

Autrey said deputies cleared the school before 10:15 a.m. and did not locate any additional threats.

"At this time, the Sheriff's Office is not actively looking for any suspects," Autrey said. "Investigators are continuing to talk with witnesses and believe that this is an isolated incident."

Both Southside High and Thomas E. Kerns Elementary were on lockdown following the incident. Blythe Elementary, Grove Elementary and MT Anderson Support Center were advised to go on partial lockdown. Brotherton said the lockdowns have since been lifted.

Thomas E. Kerns administrators chose o stay on partial lockdown and didn't allow students out for recess, Brotherton said.

There will be no busses transporting Southside students to the Fine Arts Center or any career center this afternoon, she said.

All of Greenville County schools have school resource officers, Brotherton said. There are no permanent metal detectors in place at the district's schools, but portable ones can be brought in if necessary, she said.

Southside High School is at 6630 Frontage Road off Interstate 85, between Augusta and White Horse roads in Greenville. The school has 807 students, according to the Greenville schools’ website. The school was awarded the 2015 Greenville County Schools High School Safety Award that focuses on prevention of employee and student injuries.

Southside is home to the district’s International Baccalaureate program.

We will have more details as they become available.

(Greenville News staff Lauren Petracca, Rick Brundrett, Anna Lee and Nathaniel Cary contributed to this report.)

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Student shot at Greenville high school."