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10 kids shot with pellet or BB gun on elementary school playground

Police in metro Atlanta are investigating after 10 children were shot with a BB or pellet gun at an elementary school in DeKalb County Thursday.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Police are actively searching for the person who shot a BB or pellet gun at elementary school students Thursday afternoon in metro Atlanta.

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The shooting happened around 1 p.m. at Wynbrooke Elementary School in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County Schools confirmed that 10 kids were hit when someone in a wooded area started shooting at the playground.

Nine of the 10 students were taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta to be checked. All had non-life threatening injuries, according to the district.

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Video of the scene showed crime scene tape surrounding the playground where the shooting happened. The video also showed several police cars around the school grounds and officers walking around investigating.

Caleb Edmonson, 11, was inside the school when the scary moments started to unfold. He told WSB-TV that he was eating lunch in the cafeteria when he started hearing about an active shooter.

"The teacher was asking the janitors to lock the door and then he was trying to close the blinds," Caleb said.

That's when he said everyone started to panic.

"A couple minutes later we saw an ambulance, police officers coming in and running down our hallways," Caleb said.

Police continued to interview witnesses throughout the afternoon, but so far, they have not released any information on a possible suspect.

A father of one of the students who was shot Thursday afternoon, Kevin Johnson, said that his son is a first-grader at the school and that he rode with his son in the back of the ambulance to the hospital.

Johnson said he is just relieved to know his son is going to be OK.

“He's in good hands. I’m glad that the ER was able to pick him up and get him taken care of quickly, because it could have turned into something way worse. It could have been a real gun and these kind of problems have got to stop,” Johnson said.

All the students transported to the hospital were treated and released.

People who live in the neighborhoods around the school are concerned that a shooter still hasn’t been caught.

Barbara Madison lives down the street from Wynbrooke Elementary. She said she heard and saw the chaos on Wynbrooke Parkway Thursday afternoon.

“I’m real concerned because I thought this area was safe,” Madison said. “My nephew goes there. My daughter’s going there next year.”

Madison said she rushed to the school to get her niece when she heard what was happening.

“I was the closest one that could get to her the quickest,” Madison said. “My heart dropped when I heard about it, yes. And to think that it was at an elementary school, that was really frightening.”

The school released a statement on the shooting saying in part:

“There was never a threat of anyone getting into the school building and the remaining students were not injured. The health and safety of our students is, and always will be, the number one priority at The DeKalb County School District. DeKalb Police officers are assisting DCSD Police in the investigation. Additional staff and DCSD police will be on-site tomorrow to ensure the safety of our students.”