Reports of Active Shooter Incident at Charter School Cause Intense Fear
An incident that was initially identified by some local media as an active shooter incident resulted in panic among parents.
Aug. 21 Update:
An incident that was initially identified by some local media as an active shooter incident resulted in panic among parents.
Police indicate that one man, Michael Brandon Hill, 20, is in custody after an incident at Ronald McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Decatur, Ga., on Tuesday afternoon. Although shots were fired, no one was injured.
Media accounts indicate that parents fearing for their safety reacted strongly to the news and school officials who attempted to establish a family reunification site at a Wal-Mart Store.
This incident is a good example of how people have become so fast to associate active shooter incidents with school violence. Even though the overwhelming majority of school weapons assaults do not involve active shooter incidents, many people automatically associate active shooter situations as the primary type of weapons incident in K-12 schools and institutions of higher learning.
Hill is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, making terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, reports NBC News. Police have yet to determine the suspect’s motive or whether he has ties to the campus.
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