At least 1 dead after graduation shooting in Georgia, police say

Adrianne Haney | WXIA-TV

Police say an argument after a graduation ceremony Friday night led to a shooting that killed at least one person in Georgia.

According to Clayton County Police, the shooting happened after a graduation for Perry Learning Center, which prepares students for careers as an alternative to traditional high schools. The shots were fired in the parking lot of Mount Zion High School, which provided overflow parking for people attending the ceremony in Jonesboro, about 20 miles south of Atlanta.

In a statement, police confirmed that one person died from the shooting.

The Clayton County Fire Department confirmed that two other people sustained injuries and were transported to area hospitals.

The county schools’ safety chief, Thomas Trawick, says people going to their cars got into an argument that led to the shooting. He said he couldn’t provide details about the injuries and had no information about any suspects.

Trawick said his initial reaction “wasn’t pleasant,” given that 10 people were killed earlier in the day in a school shooting in Texas.

“The last thing you want to do is have a situation at a graduation that results in anyone being injured, and definitely not being shot,” he said.

Video from the scene showed several police cars outside the location.

"We didn't know what to do," Latrallo Presley, a witness of the shooting, told WXIA-TV. "We just ran... running from the parking lot, running from everywhere. People were stumbling over each other. I was shook."

The shooting comes on the same day as the mass shooting at a Texas high school left at least 10 people dead. Clayton County Police Chief Thomas Treywick told WXIA-TV he was heartbroken to get the call of a possible shooting at the school.

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"It was not pleasant," Treywick said. "I was emotional because the last thing you want to do is have a situation at a graduation that results in anyone being injured."

In a statement, the Clayton County School district's superintendent said they were "saddened that such an incident has occurred that overshadows such a positive ceremony involving an exceptional group of graduating seniors."

Contributing: The Associated Press