The mother of the 14-year-old boy who opened fire at his school and killed several people contacted the school and warned of an “extreme emergency” half an hour before the attack, reports Washington Post.
“I asked them to immediately find my son and check if he was okay,” said the mother, according to the Washington Post.
It was Wednesday morning local time that two students and two teachers were killed when a 14-year-old boy opened fire at his school in Georgia, USA. Another nine people had to be taken to hospital.
The entire school, Apalachee High School, was placed on lockdown and students were forced to seek shelter in their classrooms and in the school’s football stadium.
The motive behind the shooting has not yet been determined.
“We ask for your patience, let’s gather the facts we need to make everything right,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a press conference after the crime.
Called the school half an hour before
Now, the Washington Post reports that the boy’s mother contacted the school the day the shooting took place.
The newspaper has seen messages sent between the mother and her sister.
“I told them it was an extreme emergency and asked them to immediately find my son and check if he was okay,” the mother writes in a text message.
It is unclear what kind of “extreme emergency” this is. Phone logs show the conversation took place about half an hour before her son opened fire.
Struggled with mental illness
The day before, the boy’s grandmother also had contact with the school.
“My wife was there the day before and talked to the teachers. They had a problem with him not coming to school,” the boy’s grandfather told CBS News.
The boy is also said to have struggled with mental illness and difficulties at home in the months before the shooting.
The boy is now charged with the murder of four. His has also been arrested and is charged with, among other things, murder.