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Jesse Osborne Identified As Potential Townville Elementary School Shooting Suspect, Teenager Reportedly Killed Father Then Opened Fire On Playground

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 09:48 PST, Sep 28, 2016

Jesse Osborne has been tentatively identified as the Townville Elementary School shooting suspect who reportedly shot and killed his father before driving to a school and opening fire, injuring two young children and a teacher.

The Townville Elementary School shooting took place in the small South Carolina town just before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, when the gunman reportedly went to the school school building and began opening fire. It is not yet clear how long the shooting incident lasted, but a local SWAT team was called in and had deemed the school safe by 3 p.m., Fox Carolina reported.

Some reports indicated that the shooting took place on the school’s playground, not inside. Pictures from the scene showed a pickup truck that had crashed into a fence at the school. It was believed that the truck had been driven by the suspect.

At least three people were injured in the school shooting, a teacher and two students. As Greenville Online reported, the victims were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, and one of the students was listed in critical condition.

“One teacher was taken to AnMed Medical Center and two students were transported by helicopter to the pediatric center at Greenville Health System. The coroner said that two students had been shot and were being treated for non-life threatening injuries.”

“GHS confirmed it has received one patient and AnMed was told to expect up to two patients.”

At the same time, police said they found a dead body at an address three miles from the school, but have not yet said officially if the two incidents are related. Local media outlets reported that the dead man is 47-year-old Jeffrey Osborne, the alleged shooter’s father, but police have not yet confirmed this.

In a statement to the press after the shooting, police confirmed that the shooter was a white male and that there were no threats of terrorism or racial undertones to the attack.

While authorities have not yet confirmed Jesse Osborne as the Townville Elementary School shooting suspect, media outlets have confirmed through law enforcement sources that the suspect is the teenage son of shooting victim Jeffrey Osborne. Several sources online — including Jesse’s mother’s place of employment — confirmed that Jesse is the son of Jeffrey Osborne.

Police said they believe that the shooter acted alone in the Townville Elementary School shooting and that there was no longer any danger to the community after the suspect’s arrest.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene outside the Townville Elementary School in the wake of the shooting, with dozens of emergency response vehicles streaming down Highway 24 toward the building. The shooting drew a response from several agencies, including the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Anderson City Police, and the sheriff’s departments from Anderson and Oconee counties.

After the Townville Elementary School shooting, students were escorted out of the school building and taken to a nearby church where parents could pick them up. A line of cars stretched for a half mile outside the church, Greenville Online reported.

The school is located in Anderson County, South Carolina and has 286 students in pre-kindergarten through 6th grade. It is not yet known what connection the potential suspect has to Townville Elementary School, but a 2013 honor roll listing from the school published in the Independent Mail listed a fifth grader named Jesse Osborne who had achieved all As and Bs for the first nine weeks of school.

There are many other details yet to emerge about the Townville Elementary School shooting and potential suspect Jesse Osborne, including a potential motive for the attack and what charges the suspect may face.

[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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