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| Michael Hill is the alleged shooter of a suburban Atlanta school. The school was evacuated and no children were hurt but the incident warrants a discussion on school safety. |
Michael Brandon Hill is a 20 year old man entered a suburban Atlanta area elementary school and opened fired on law enforcement officers. The schoolchildren were in their first week of school and this happens.
The police ended the situation peacefully with the arrest of the individual. But this incident rattled the nerves of concerned parents and opened another debate over firearms.
While that White Extremist was slap happy with a story of an Australian man being killed by three Oklahoma teens (two by who were Black), the rest of the news agitators were focused on a DeKalb County school being on lockdown because of a deranged man entering McNair Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia.
The Cox Media Group affiliates WSB and the Atlanta Constitution Journal have covered this controversy.
They've found some disturbing themes to the shooter's motives. Hill was hoping to make the news by "shooting up some cops (and children)".
The shooter was a White man.
The Atlanta Constitution Journal reports that Hill was considered "the quiet and friendly guy" who most people would never expect to harm others.
It's common among loners and the guys who are often rejected by women in relationships.
Michael Brandon Hill remained an enigma Tuesday night to all except possibly the detectives who were interviewing him about why he allegedly entered a DeKalb County school armed with a gun.
There is little in public record about Hill. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter dispatched to a house that was searched by law officers investigating the shooting found descriptions of an Everyman, who neighbors described as quiet and polite.
Late Tuesday night, police were still searching the house, which glowed from interior lights throughout and was wrapped in yellow crime scene tape. The house, which sits in a neighborhood of bungalows — some neat, some boarded up and surrounded by weeds — is in walking distance of the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, the scene of the crime.
Neighbors described the 20-year-old Hill as a short, stocky teenager who kept to himself and who watched over three children at the house in the wooded neighborhood off East Lilac Street in Decatur.
Hill, along with five other residents, had moved into the house about a year ago. They sometimes threw small get-togethers but rarely made much noise or trouble, said neighbors — who expressed shock that someone so unassuming could allegedly commit such a horrific act.
“I’m surprised,” said Francis Hall, who lives across the street and would occasionally exchange waves with Hill as he took out the trash. “He’s just an average guy.”
Another neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said he suspected Hill was some sort of nanny. He said Hill rarely left the house and was often seen taking care of three children who apparently lived there.
The children would play outside in the pool while Hill looked on. When neighbors requested he pick up trash left by children living at the house, he politely did so, the neighbor said.
To that neighbor and others, Hill didn’t seem disturbed; they saw him as pretty friendly.
WSB TV reports that DeKalb County Police Chief Cedric Alexander said the 20-year-old had fired on officers as they arrived and the officers returned fire.
“When we received the call and we engaged, he started to fire from inside the school at our officers. He had one or two of the staff members inside the main office. He was holding them captive,” Alexander said.
DeKalb County sheriff's deputies and U.S. Marshals arrested the individual without any injuries. The entered inside the school “without incident, without resistance.”
Winne spoke to the arresting deputies.
“When I arrived at the scene I saw the male subject standing outside, shooting a couple of rounds off,” one of deputies said.
Alexander said that officers feared the man had explosives in the car or the building. Alexander also said the alleged gunman had multiple guns, including an AK-47.
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| No children were harmed in this school shooting. |
“We could not bring the children around to the front of the school because we didn’t know if explosives were in the vehicle,” Alexander said. “Now, this deviates from our typical plan, but this was a very unusual situation, where we had to get the kids away from any possible explosives.”
Investigators said Hill will be charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
One of the women held captive in the school office called Channel 2 Action News to report that there was a shooter in the school. She told a Channel 2 assignment desk editor that the gunman asked her to call WSB-TV and police.
"All the time of doing this I never experienced anything like this," LeCroy said. "It didn't take long to know that this was serious."
The McNair elementary office worker told LeCroy that the gunman wanted Channel 2 Action News to "start filming as police die."
The gunman then told the woman that he wanted "police to back up." Shots could be heard over the call.
Eventually the woman told LeCroy "they got him."
Parents were asked to go to the Walmart near Gresham Road and Interstate 20 to get their children.
Hundreds of McNair elementary school parents flooded the parking lot to be reunited with the students, who were bused from the school. Parents were required to have a photo ID to pick up their child.
"When I first heard about the incident I had to rush to leave work, about an hour away to the school to see if everything is all right. When I got here they'd caught the guy and that's a good thing. Man I just heard all the kids are fine. Just good to have your little one back with you," parent Antonio Johnson said.
Parents at Walmart spoke to Channel 2's Lori Geary about their fears for their childrens' safety.
“My daughter called me on the telephone while I was at home and she said ‘Mom, are you listening to the news? There’s something going on at Nadia’s school. And so, she was on her way to Walmart and I came behind her,” Anna, the grandmother told Geary.
Nadia’s mother, Kimberly, said she now fears sending her little girl to school.
“It makes me want to home school my daughter,” Kimberly said.
Channel 2’s Erica Byfield spoke to woman who lives down the street from the school.
The neighbor, who did not want to give her name, said she was in her kitchen when her dog started barking frantically. After hearing about five shots, she was compelled to run outside and check her surroundings, knowing a school was nearby.
“At first, I heard some little small shots. Then, I heard ‘bang, bang, bang!’ Then, I heard, ‘doom, doom, doom shots, so I knew something was wrong,” she told Byfield.
The neighbor said she hopes the gunman pays for what he’s done.
“I hope they get him and prosecute him for what he’s done, because these are innocent kids,” she said.
Students will have school on Wednesday, but classes will be held at McNair High School. The students will maintain the same bus schedule.
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