Overview
- Police say the shooting occurred near the front entrance of Palmetto Elementary in Fulton County, prompting a hard lockdown.
- More than 550 students were secured and transported to Bear Creek Middle School for reunification, and no students or staff were harmed.
- Authorities identified the suspect as 39-year-old Christopher Loris Ates, who was spotted in Middle Georgia and arrested after a high-speed chase.
- The pursuit ended in a crash on Highway 96 near the Houston–Twiggs county line, and Ates was booked into the Houston County jail.
- Ates faces state charges including reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude, and second-degree cruelty to children, while Fulton County investigators finalize murder charges and additional warrants and have not released a motive or any relationship to the victim.