Four high school students shot in Atlanta

[February 15, 2024]  (Reuters) - Four Atlanta high school students were shot on Wednesday when a shooter opened fire from a vehicle into the parking lot at Benjamin E. Mays High School shortly after school let out, Atlanta Public Schools said in a statement.  

All the victims were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the statement said, adding that all after-school activities were canceled.

Atlanta police referred all queries to the school district.

One woman was detained in connection with the incident, WSB television reported, citing police.

The Atlanta violence took place on the same day gunfire erupted at a Kansas City rally to celebrate the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory, killing one and wounding as many as 15, police said.

Both shootings occurred on the sixth anniversary of one of the most famous school shootings in recent U.S. history, as 17 people were killed and 17 more were injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018. The shooter, a former student there who was 19 at the time, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

There have been 48 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive, using the standard of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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