WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) — A shooting at a Georgia high school Wednesday left one student wounded, and a teenage suspect who fled was later taken into custody, police said.
The shooting at Warner Robins High School involving two ninth-graders occurred just one week into the new school year and prompted a response from dozens of law enforcement officers. Warner Robins is about 102 miles (164 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.
“Today a call that we train for every year happened to come to Houston County,” Sheriff Matt Moulton said at an evening news conference.
The injured student was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Moulton did not specify the type of injuries the student had.
It wasn’t immediately known whether the school has metal detectors in place. Moulton declined to take questions at the news conference, citing the active investigation.
The sheriff said a group of students was inside a school bathroom when a verbal altercation between two students escalated into a physical fight. One student was shot at 2:15 p.m., and the suspect fled. A school resource officer arrived quickly, applied tourniquets to the student’s injuries and remained until emergency services personnel arrived.
An hour later, the suspect was caught “without further incident” in a neighborhood about a half-mile (800 meters) from the school, Moulton said.
“The school threat protocol and our training was followed perfectly today," Moulton said. "Fortunately what could have been a much-worse incident was minimized to us only having one student injured.”
Houston County Schools Superintendent Richard Rogers said the school would be closed for students on Thursday and Friday and for staff on Thursday. Crisis counselors would be available at the school for staff on Friday and for students on Monday.
“We’re going to focus on healing,” Rogers said.
In this image from video provided by WGXA-TV, a police officer walks outside Warner Robins High School after a shooting in Warner Robins, Ga., on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (WGXA-TV via AP)
Law enforcement responds to a school shooting at Warner Robins High School, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Warner Robins, Ga. (Joe Kovac/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Students leave Warner Robins High School as Houston County Sheriff vehicles remain on the scene after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Warner Robins, Ga. (Joe Kovac/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
The man charged with killing Charlie Kirk shouldn’t get the death penalty because the shooter “hit the intended target” and no one else was endangered when the conservative activist was shot from a rooftop at an event in Utah last year, his lawyers said.
Defendant Tyler Robinson's attorneys say the bullet traveled above the crowd of several thousand people at Utah State University on Sept. 10 and “there were no threats to others.” Whether the shooting endangered the crowd is a key issue: Prosecutors cited the risk that other people could have been harmed as an aggravating factor under state law that makes Kirk's killing a capital crime.
“The only evidence presented supports that the bullet traveled above, not through, the crowd,” defense attorneys wrote in documents filed late Tuesday as the defense tries to block the case from proceeding to trial.
The defense lawyers also disputed claims that Robinson targeted Kirk over his political views. Prosecutors allege Robinson told his roommate that he killed the activist because he “had enough of his hatred.” But the defense said that was not enough to prove what motivated Robinson, after searches of his apartment, computers and telephone failed to produce anything beyond that one statement.
Prosecutors last month during a weeklong hearing presented what they call “overwhelming” evidence against Robinson, including DNA tests that tie him to the suspected murder weapon and apparent confessions by the defendant.
His attorneys questioned the reliability of the DNA tests and other evidence. They didn't offer any alternative theories for Kirk's assassination, and made no mention of DNA in Tuesday's filing.
Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and has not yet entered a plea. He turned himself in a day after Kirk was killed.
His defense attorneys previously tried to get the death penalty taken off the table after prosecutors were found to be in contempt of court for talking about the case to the media. State District Judge Tony Graf rejected that request.
In documents filed last month, prosecutors said the fact that Robinson loaded his rifle with four bullets showed that he knew he could miss Kirk, “thereby putting others in danger.”
But defense attorneys said “it is just as likely that the shooter did not believe he would miss.”
Robinson faces possible sentence enhancements if prosecutors can prove he targeted Kirk because of his politics. They contend that Kirk’s strong opposition to same-sex marriage and gender transitioning stood in contrast to Robinson, who was in a romantic relationship with a roommate, Lance Twiggs. Twiggs told investigators that he had been considering transitioning around the time that Kirk was killed, according to prosecutors.
Twiggs also told investigators that Robinson sometimes talked about politics, including President Donald Trump. Yet Twiggs said he never heard Robinson talk about Kirk before the shooting. The defendant also did not talk much about gender issues or LGBTQ+ rights, Twiggs said. The AP emailed Twiggs’ attorney seeking comment.
Closing arguments in the preliminary hearing are scheduled for Sept. 1. Graf will then decide if the case can go to trial and on what charges. Lawyers for Kirk’s family have asked Graf to make his decision by or on Sept. 1 so the case can proceed.
Prosecutors have until Aug. 18 to respond to the latest defense arguments. The Associated Press left telephone and email messages with the Utah County Attorney’s Office seeking comment.
Preliminary hearings typically don’t last so long. Legal experts said the slow pace reflects a cautious approach by Graf, the large volume of evidence and a desire by prosecutors to disprove conspiracy theories around the case.
FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, on Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf speaks during a preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, at the Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, July 8, 2026. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on June 12, 2026. (Francisco Kjolseth /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
