A man has been shot dead by police officers after he tried to enter an Alabama elementary school yesterday.
According to a news release from The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), a male suspect was spotted trying to force his way into a marked Rainbow City patrol vehicle near Walnut Park Elementary School on Thursday afternoon (June 9).
Although it is not term time, Gadsden City School Superintendent Tony Reddick told CNN that there were at least 34 students inside the school due to a literacy camp that was taking place.
He added that the suspect tried to enter the school before attempting to gain entry to the vehicle, saying: "He tried to open at least two doors leading into the school."
When a resource officer spotted the individual's suspicious behavior, he made contact with him and tried to stop him. According to the release, an altercation ensued in which the man tried to take the officer's firearm. After managing to call for backup, a responding officer came to the original officer's aid, shooting the suspect.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Etowah County Sheriff Jonathan Horton reported during a news conference that no children were injured during the incident.
Horton went on to praise the school resource officer's quick response, and the work of the district as a whole in the wake of last month's devastating school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
"Our schools, especially after ... what's happened in Texas, we have one of the largest school resource officers programs in Etowah County, preaching that these doors stay locked. That the individual was not able to make it inside the school," Horton said.
"From the school resource officer's standpoint - he did exactly what should be done. He went straight to the threat, he confronted it and he dealt with it. It ended in, unfortunately, the death of the suspect, but that's the safest alternative. To keep that threat out of that school," he added.
Following the altercation, the resource officer was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. It is not yet known whether the suspect was armed during their struggle.
Meanwhile, Reddick expressed his shock over the frightening experience. "This is Gadsden. A small-knit community. You don't think that something like this is going to happen at your school," he said.
