A 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly shooting two people outside McEachern High School, Cobb County police said Friday.
But investigators believe there was also a second shooter, who has not been identified.
Officers were called to the school’s parking lot Thursday afternoon and found two people with gunshot wounds. The two were not McEachern students but had been in a fight with a student, according to Officer Aaron Wilson with Cobb police.
“It was not an active shooter and what we have right now is an investigation into two people who were shot,” Cobb police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said during a Friday morning news conference.
Investigators believe 17-year-old Scott Anthony Foor Jr., of Powder Springs, witnessed the fight and shot both of those involved. It’s not clear why Foor allegedly involved himself in the fight.
VanHoozer said he could not confirm if Foor is a McEachern student. The Cobb school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Foor’s status as a student.
“Another unidentified suspect also brandished a firearm, engaging in gunfire without causing further injuries,” Wilson said in a statement.
Foor allegedly fired a handgun several times, shooting one victim in the leg and the other in the arm, his arrest warrant states. They were taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, police said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
The gunfire forced school leaders to implement a temporary lockdown at the Powder Springs school Thursday afternoon.
Nervous parents gathered about a half-mile from the high school as they waited for district officials to release their children. Among them was Anne Joseph, a laboratory technician who rushed there from work after receiving a text from her son about a shooting on campus.
She was messaging her 15-year-old, a McEachern freshman who said he was lying on the ground and sheltering in place along with fellow students.
“I’m a mom and my baby’s in there,” Joseph told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the scene.
Parents and students were reunited later in the day.
Foor was arrested in Union City late Thursday and charged with two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm on school property. He was booked into the Cobb jail, where he was being held without bond Friday morning.
An increased number of officers were on the McEachern campus Friday, along with grief counselors, VanHoozer said.
“The safety of our students is still the main goal, and we’re still comfortable that they are safe,” he said.
Van Hoozer commended officers from various agencies who assisted his department with the investigation.
“I just thank God that it wasn’t more serious,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department Major Crimes Unit at 770-499-4111.
