Two Henry County schools were placed on lockdown Wednesday after a student took a gun onto campus and it discharged, officials said.
According to school district spokesman J.D. Hardin, a student at McDonough High School had two guns in his backpack. One accidentally went off when the student dropped the backpack.
No other students or staff members were injured, but the gunshot triggered an immediate “hard lockdown” both at the high school and the adjacent McDonough Middle School campus.
Hardin explained that all students and faculty members sheltered in place during the hard lockdown, which went into effect shortly after 10:30 a.m.
School and district officials went to the high school along with resource officers from the Henry County Police Department to investigate the shooting reports.
Police quickly identified the student, whose name was not released by authorities. Police took him into custody and charges are pending, Hardin said.
After investigators located the student, district officials downgraded to a “soft lockdown,” which allowed normal operations to resume inside the two schools, although no one could enter or leave the buildings.
Hardin said the soft lockdown was lifted around noon.
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