Advertisement Fire chief gives first-person account of shooting at Townville school Chief Billy McAdams offers new details about shooting Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A day after a 14-year-old was accused of killing his father and opening fire at an elementary school, wounding a teacher and two students, the fire chief shared new details of how the events unfolded.First-grade teacher Meghan Hollingsworth and a 6-year-old boy were wounded in the shooting at Townville Elementary School and were treated and released from the hospital. Jacob Hall, 6, was seriously injured and remains in critical condition after surgery. (Previous story on shooting | Full story on Jacob)Jesse Osborne is believed to have killed his father, 47-year-old Jeffrey Osborne, shortly before he went to the school. Officials said Jesse Osborne was outside the classroom when he encountered Hollingsworth as she was about to take the children out to the playground, and he fired as they retreated back in the door.Jesse Osborne is in custody and charges are pending. (Click to read the Osborne family's statement)Chief Billy McAdams read a statement at a news conference Thursday afternoon that said: “Yesterday our community experienced a devastating and life-changing event. We’re going to feel this for a real long time.“First off, we appreciate the outpouring of support that has been shown to our community so far. Second, I ask that your prayers continue to be with those involved in this incident. And please especially remember to keep little Jacob, who continues to fight for his life. He’s a hard little fighter. You’ve got to continue to remember that.“While we understand the need for more information from our agency and others involved on the events yesterday, especially the efforts that were taken within the first few minutes, but please understand that this was more than just another call to us. This incident occurred in a school that our children and the children of the community attend, that our family works at, with individuals that are members of our close-knit community, and we have the time and we need to have the time to begin the recovery process as well …Video: Third-grader describes what happened during shooting“We ask that you respect the time that is needed for our personnel to undergo a critical incident stress debriefing session and support the immediate needs of our school communities and our families.”McAdams read a statement from Jamie Brocker, the unarmed volunteer firefighter who took down Jesse Osborne after the shooting. (More on Brock and his statement)McAdams also released a written version of his statement on the events at Townville Elementary that included some additional details that were not in the statement he read at the news conference.The full written statement says: “At 1345 hours yesterday, law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel from two counties were dispatched to a reported active shooter at the Townville Elementary School."Within a few minutes, I made contact by phone to the front office, confirming the situation and location of the gunman. I was told that the shooter was at the rear of the building and there were children shot near the playground."Within minutes, multiple teachers were making direct calls to me and Chief Mark Bryant to ensure we were coming to help and give us additional information."Firefighter Brock and I left immediately left my nearby farm and raced to the school to try and help."When we drove into the rear parking lot, we immediately noticed the black pickup (truck) crashed into the playground fence and teachers yelling for help from an open classroom door."Firefighter Brock and myself quickly discussed the need to split up and to be able to cover both the inside and outside of the school."After quickly checking the wrecked truck for injuries or a gunman, I went into the school and Jamie proceeded along the sidewalk."Once inside, I was led by teachers to a room where the injured were located. The school nurse had already begun to treat injuries of the two students and the teacher. I immediately assessed the three and realized that young Jacob needed my full attention, as his injuries were the most severe."We provided CPR and other medical care to Jacob as other responders began to arrive and assist with treatment and securing the school."All three injured were given the best possible care on scene by our team of first responders."The teacher, Mrs. (Meghan) Hollingsworth and one student were transported by EMS to AnMed hospital while Jacob was flown to Greenville for immediate treatment for his critical injuries.“Concurrently to the events taking place within the school, firefighter Brock continued his search on the outside of the building. As Brock made his way to the rear corner of the building, he observed the shooter a short distance away in the grass. Feeling it was imperative to the safety of the students, teachers and responders already inside, he immediately confronted and subdued the shooter. He was able to keep him on the ground until law enforcement arrived to place him into custody. (Previous story on Brock)“Over the next hour, staff, firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement worked seamlessly to ensure the safety and security of those remaining in the school. They ensured that each child and teacher was safe and accounted for and moved to a safe location to be reunited with their family.“Over the past 24 hours, the word 'hero' has been used to describe the actions of firefighter Brock and other first responders at the scene. We agree. We also believe the teachers and staff at Townville Elementary who protected the children in the moments following the gunshots are heroes as well. We also believe the entire Townville community are heroes for the support they have shown to everyone involved during the toughest time imaginable.“We ask that you continue to pray for our law enforcement, paramedics, firefighters, dispatchers, teachers and students who were involved in the event yesterday, especially for 6-year-old Jacob who is fighting for his life.“We will not be answering questions or providing additional statements at this time. We ask that you respect the time that our team needs to begin the healing process for our community. We will look for options next week to be able to provide additional information and allow for questions you have to be answered by first responders. Thank you again for your understanding and please pray for Townville.”Gov. Nikki Haley released a statement Thursday regarding the shooting.