Ten elementary school students hit with BB or pellet gun in US state of Georgia

As many as ten elementary school children in the southern US state of Georgia were hit by pellet or BB gun after an unknown assailant in a wooded area started shooting at their playground on Thursday.

The unfortunate incident sparked panic at the Wynbrooke Elementary School in DeKalb County as police descended on the scene of what initially appeared to be yet another mass shooting.

Talking to local news WSB-TV 2, an 11-year-old student named Caleb Edmonson said, : "Everybody started to get a little bit panicked, but people started thinking it was a drill, but then a couple of minutes later we saw ambulances, police officers coming in, running down our hallways."

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In a statement, the DeKalb County School District said that the shots fired at students of Wynbrooke Elementary Theme School in Stone Mountain “appear to have come from a position away from the school grounds.” The school further added that the county and district law enforcement are investigating.

There was never a threat of anyone getting into the school building. But it’s posting additional staff and law enforcement at the school on Friday to ensure students’ safety,” it concluded.

The DeKalb County School District also said that there was never a threat of anyone getting into the school building. But it’s posting additional staff and law enforcement at the school Friday to ensure students’ safety.

Meanwhile, Portia Kirkland, a spokeswoman for DeKalb County School District stated that the students were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non life-threatening injuries or picked up their parents. She also noted that police investigation is underway.

Notably, the incident came days after the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting when two armed teens killed 12 students at their Colorado high school. Since then, an estimated 226,000 children in 233 schools have been exposed to the sight or sound of gunfire, according to a Washington Post investigation.

The worst shootings to date were those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut in 2012 and at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last year. The horrific incidents claimed life of 26 and 17 respectively.