Nathan Williams
Live page editor

We're now pausing our live coverage of the school shooting in the US state of Georgia.

Police say a 14-year-old student is being held after the incident at a high school in which four people were killed - two of them pupils, and two students.

The director of Georgia's police force said the suspect had surrendered to police at Apalachee High School in Winder.

He said the suspect would be charged with murder and tried as an adult.

In a statement, President Biden called on Republicans to work with Democrats to pass what he called "common sense gun safety legislation".

The vice-president Kamala Harris called on Americans to bring an end to the epidemic of gun violence.

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The US has a long history of school mass shootings:

• In 2022, 19 students and two teachers were shot dead by an 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas
• Four years earlier in 2018, ten people were killed when a 17-year-old student opened fire on his high school classmates in Santa Fe, Texas
• In the same year, a 19-year-old former student opened fire at Parkland, Florida, school, killing 14 students and three staff
• At Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, a 20-year-old gunman killed 20 children and 6 adults
• In Blacksburg, Virginia, a student opened fire at Virginia Polytechnic Institute killing 32 students and professors in 2007
• In 1999, two teenagers from Columbine, Colorado armed with weapons killed 12 students and a teacher, and wounded another 24

One mother is recounting the harrowing experience of receiving a text from her son that a shooter was in his high school this morning.

She says she rushed to give her son a big hug after they were reunited.

"That could've been my son that could have lost his life," she says.

André Rhoden-Paul
Reporting from London

We've just heard more about the injured from the Northeast Georgia Health System.

Spokeswoman Layne Saliba says three gunshot victims were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

An additional five patients were treated for symptoms related to anxiety or panic attack.

The Georgia Bureau of investigations gave us a brief timeline of the events this morning.

An official said the county was notified of reports of an active shooter around 10:30 local time. Law enforcement officials were on the scene shortly, the official said.

He added that the shooter surrendered immediately after encountering law enforcement officials and was taken into custody right away.

We're hearing more details now about how the school shooter was stopped.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith says the shooter was armed when the school resource officer engaged him.

"He gave up, got on the ground," Smith says.

The shooter was interviewed and spoke with investigators once he was in custody, Smith adds.

He says he does not yet know whether the victims were targeted.

Sheriff Jud Smith says "pure evil happened today".

The sheriff adds his "heart hurts for these kids" and "hate will not prevail in this county".

Sheriff Jud Smith says the suspect has been interviewed and it is helping the investigation.

A little more now from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

An official tells us that four people died in the shooting - two students and two teachers.

Nine people with injuries are currently still in local hospitals, he says.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation official names the suspect as 14-year-old student Colt Gray.

He says the student will be charged with murder, and will be tried as an adult.

When the news broke at the press conference, we reported that the student had been charged with murder already. In fact, as we quickly corrected in the post, the authorities said Colt Gray will be charged with that crime - but that the indictment has not been brought yet.

We're about to hear from Georgia officials at another news conference.

Representatives from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Barrow County Sheriff's Office and the FBI are due to speak.

You can watch his comments by pressing play on the stream above. We will bring you the key lines.

"Enough is enough," an anti-gun violence organisation has said following the Winder shooting.

Giffords, an organisation founded by ex-Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who survived being shot in the head in a mass shooting, has called for change.

In a post on X, the group said: "Our children should be able to go to school without being met with gun violence."

It also highlighted Georgia does not have state laws asking demanding background checks or a large capacity magazine ban - measures it calls life saving.

We're just hearing now from former President Donald Trump who said his thoughts are with the victims.

In a post on social media, the Republican presidential nominee said: "Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA.

"These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster."

Image source, Reuters

Georgia Democratic Senator Rev Raphael Warnock says his "heart is broken" and calls for "common sense" gun control measures.

He posts on X that the entire community "is in my prayers", but adds: "We can’t pray only with our lips—we must pray by taking action."

Until we start a "serious conversation" across the country about gun safety reforms, the "sad truth is it’s only a matter of time before this kind of tragedy comes knocking on your door", he says.

"Mass shootings as routine aren’t the cost of freedom, they’re the cost of blind obstinance."

Several Georgia lawmakers have commented on the high school shooting today. Republican Chuck Efstration, Georgia's House majority leader, wrote in a post on X that he was "closely monitoring the evacuation of Apalachee High School".

"As we await further details, I join [Georgia] Gov. Kemp in praying for all students, teachers, & staff," he said, adding that he was grateful for law enforcement's response.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris says the Georgia school shooting was a "senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies".

"We have to end this epidemic of gun violence in this country once and for all," the Democratic presidential nominee told supporters at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"This is one of the many issues at stake in this election."

She says it's "outrageous" that parents "have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive".

"We've got to stop it," she adds.

Alexsandra Romero, a sophomore at Apalachee High School who was there when shots were fired, said she was sitting in her classroom when someone came barging in and yelled at students, warning them to get down.

”I can just remember my hands were shaking,” Romero told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“I felt bad because everybody was crying, everybody was trying to find their siblings," she said.

Fourteen-year-old Camille Nelms told NBC News that bullets ripped through the walls of her classroom and sent teachers and students into hiding.

"I was crying, I didn't want to die that way," Nelms said.

"I don't want to meet the Lord that way."

Image source, Reuters

We're getting reaction now from Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice-president.

"This is tragic. We don't know any of the details on it yet, but it's a situation that's all too common", he says.

"Our hearts are out there right now, but our work needs to do to prevent these in the future, as we know."

Walz was speaking while on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state in November's election.

Although Walz is a gun owner, he has often advocated for more gun restrictions.

Image source, Getty Images

Details are still emerging about the shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Here's a look at what we know so far:

• Four people were killed and nine others are being treated for injuries at different hospitals, according to officials
• The suspect is alive and in custody, authorities say, as they denied reports that the shooter had been "neutralised"

• Parents are being reunited with their children nearby the school and the grounds are now secure, they added
• US Attorney General Merrick Garland says the government is "still gathering information" about the incident

Stay with us for more.

The city of Winder is holding a vigil tonight to bring community members together in the wake of the shooting at Apalachee High School.

The vigil is taking place at 19:00 local time (midnight BST) "for a time to be together and grieve for the horrific events that unfolded in Barrow County today", according to the Facebook page for the event.