The victim and the shooter are both believed to be students, and they got into an altercation that escalated into gunfire, Roundtree said. Some of it was caught on video, Roundtree said.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office asked parents to report Josey’s football stadium to reunify with their children.
Parents were told the campus went on lockdown after the incident, which happened shortly before deputies started converging on the school around 11:20 a.m. and blocked 15th Street.
Out of an abundance of caution, nearby Murphey Middle School was also secured, and Augusta University got an alert because of Josey’s proximity to the Health Sciences Campus.
In addition to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, personnel were on the scene from the Georgia State Patrol and Richmond County Mashal’s Office. At least some of the law rnforcement officers were in tactical gear. A Central EMS ambulance was there, as well.
Young people appeared to be gathered in school parking lot at lunchtime, watching the law enforcement activity.
Josey is no stranger to violence.
Wednesday’s shooting came just a day after a large fight broke out at Butler High School during the transition to class after breakfast and resulted in several arrests.
High schools in Augusta just started the academic year last week. At some other districts in the region where school started earlier, there was violence in the first days, as well.
On Aug. 3, a midday brawl broke out at Aiken High School, leading to several arrests and at least one student injury.
That happened days after a series of similar fights at Burke County High School.