The deadliest episode of school violence in Georgia’s history could have ended with even more bloodshedcasinwin, if not for the school’s newly installed security systems, according to law enforcement officials.
The Wednesday shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., killed two teachers and two students, and injured at least nine others. But the gunman may have been stopped from taking more lives after a staff member appeared to activate an alarm that triggered a police response, officials said.
All teachers at the school were equipped with an ID badge on a lanyard that had a panic button, which alerts the police to an active threat, according to the authorities. The badges can also initiate a schoolwide lockdown when activated, according to Centegix, the company that makes them.
The alert system can send both administrators and responders details on the floor and classroom where the staff member sends up the alarm, and it operates outside of a school Wi-Fi network, according to Centegix.
The security measure had been installed at the high school about a week before the shooting, law enforcement officials told reporters.
“This could’ve been way worse,” Jud Smith, the Barrow County sheriff, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
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