14-year-old Jesse Osborne shot multiple people at Townville Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina on Wednesday afternoon (Sep. 28) after shooting and killing his own father in their home.
Here’s everything we know about Jesse and the shooting:
1. Jesse Osborne shot two students and a teacher at Townville Elementary.
According to reports, as children were being led outside for recess, the teen ran a pickup truck into a fence surrounding the playground before stepping out of the car and opening fire around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. A teacher called 911 and reported the shooting.
Two male students were struck by bullets. One in the leg, the other in the foot. A teacher was also shot in the shoulder. One of the male students, 6-year-old Jacob Hall was airlifted to the Greenville Hospital System Pediatric Trauma Center and is listed in critical condition. The other student and first grade teacher Meghan Hollingsworth were treated and released from AnMed hospital in Anderson.
#Townville shooting: Meghan Hollingsworth was teacher who was shot, district confirms pic.twitter.com/1JWHiOKb1o
— WYFF News 4 (@wyffnews4) September 29, 2016
Investigators say there was no relationship between the teen and the victims at the school. Immediately after the shooting, students at Townville Elementary School were evacuated from the school to a nearby church. The school is surrounded by working farms and has around 285 students that attend. It is said to be predominantly white.
2. The teen is in police custody, but was initially apprehended by a volunteer fireman.
After shooting two students and a teacher, Osborne was apprehended by volunteer firefighter Jamie Brock, who was one of the first to respond to the scene. Brock managed to wrestle the teen to the ground until law enforcement arrived. Brock was unarmed when he took the teen down.
“Firefighter Brock is absolutely a hero. He wants to remain humble and quiet about it. He believes he did nothing any of the other volunteer firefighters wouldn’t have done,” Scott Stoller with Anderson County Emergency Management said.
Brock is a 30-year veteran of the Townville Volunteer Fire Department.
Osborne was taken into police custody and is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center Juvenile Facility.
3. The boy killed his father, Jeffrey Osborne, before the shooting, and his grandparents found his dad’s body.
Authorities say that prior to the shooting at Townville Elementary, the teen shot and killed his father, 47-year-old Jeffrey D. Osborne, at their family home, which is 3 miles away from the school.
According to Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore, Osborne was home alone with his father when he shot him multiple times in the den. The teen’s mother was at work at the time of the shooting.
Authorities say they received a 911 call from the teen’s grandparents shortly after the shooting at Townville Elementary School reporting that their grandson called them “crying and distraught” about 1:44 p.m. The grandparents told cops that they went to the home on Osborne Rd. to see if their grandson was there. The teen was not there when they arrived, but they found their son’s body.
The boy is said to have been homeschooled and had taken online classes earlier in the day.
4. Osborne yelled “I hate my life!” before shooting, which police don’t believe was racially motivated.
Capt. Garland Major of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said that police don’t believe the shooting was racially motivated, considering the shooter was white and the three victims were also white. He said they also did not believe terrorism was a factor.
A witness said the teen allegedly screamed “I hate my life!” moments before the shooting. Katrina Jones told Greenville Online that her 6-year-old niece was on the playground when she heard the teen say he hated his life.
5. The teen’s mother, Tiffney Osborne, allegedly bought him guns and smoke grenades.
Social media is accusing the teen’s mother of buying him the guns he used in the school shooting and to kill his father. There’s an alleged a screenshot floating around, taken from the teen’s mother Tiffney Osborne’s (now deleted) Facebook page, that shows her commenting on buying her son handguns and smoke grenades.
Though Tiffney, who reportedly works as a dental hygienist, hasn’t commented on the accusations, she released a statement on the shooting via her pastor James South:
“Our entire family is absolutely shocked and saddened by the senseless actions of our son and grandson. We are praying and will continue to do so for the two precious children who were wounded, and for their courageous teacher who was wounded while rescuing the children. We cannot express the devastation we feel at the loss of our beloved Jeff. We are thankful to have friends who have expressed their sympathy and support to Tiffney at the loss of her husband. Please pray for our family that the Lord will help us as we face this unimaginable ordeal.”
South also revealed to WYFF that Tiffney found out about the shooting through media and had no contact with her son.
“Tiffney is still trying to grasp the thought that her husband has been killed and that her son did it,” South said. “Right now she is just blown away. She realizes it happened but it hasn’t sunk in.”
5. Jesse Osborne was said to be a “nice” kid.
A neighbor to the Osborne’s told reporters that the family lived at their home for at least 10 years and kept a chicken farm for most of that time.
He said he saw the teen on the morning of the shooting and waved at him. “He seemed like the nicest kid,” the unidentified neighbor told Greenville Online.
The neighbor also shared that he heard gunshots two nights before, but thought it was only target practice. “Dunno what makes kids just snap like that,” he said.
6. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and the school district’s superintendent released statements.
In response to the shootings at Townville Elementary School, S.C. Governor Nikki Haley said in a statement:
“As we work together with law enforcement to make sure they have the support they need to investigate what happened in Townville, Michael and I ask that everyone across South Carolina join us in praying for the entire Townville Elementary School family and those touched by today’s tragedy.”
Anderson County District 4 superintendent Dr. Joanne Avery released a statement saying “We are heartbroken about this senseless act of violence,” and asked for everyone to keep the community in their prayers.
Avery also said that school has been canceled for the rest of the week and counseling services will be available to students.
7. Jesse Osborne may have been a former student at the school.
While authorities said the teen didn’t attend the school, there’s evidence that he may have been a previous student at Townville Elementary School.
A 2013 honor roll listing from the school published in the Independent Mail shows a fifth grader named Jesse Osborne, who had achieved all A’s and B’s for the first nine weeks of school.
WSPA also reports that Osborne was expelled from West-Oak Middle School after bringing a hatchet to school last year, and that is the reason he was home-schooled.
8. A GoFundMe has been set up for 6-year-old Jacob Hall, the shooting victim who’s still in “critical” condition.
Pray for Jacob Hall. Officials say he is listed in Critical Condition at GHS after being shot at #TownvilleElementary school in Anderson Co pic.twitter.com/UaUy4tAV6M
— Nigel Robertson (@thetopstoryWYFF) September 29, 2016
A GoFundMe page has been made for one of the shooting victims, 6 year-old Jacob Hall, to help pay for his treatment at the hospital.
A family friend updated the page revealing that Jacob’s condition hasn’t changed overnight and he is still in critical condition as of Thursday morning (Sep. 29).
“Just wanted to give an update. Over the night, there have been no changes in his condition. He is due to have surgery on his other main artery as soon as hes stable enough to do so. Thank yall so very much for all your donations and continue to spread the word and most importantly, PRAY for this little boy. I will continue to keep this open as long as ppl will donate because he has a long road to recovery. Thanks again and God Bless!!”
Jacob’s parents, Rodger and Renae Hall, also released a statement thanking everyone for their prayers.
“We appreciate the community’s support, especially the Townville Rescue Squad who treated Jacob onsite and brought him to the hospital,” they said. “We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and ask for privacy during this difficult time.”
Jesse Osborne: Everything We Know About the Townville Elementary School Shooter is a post from: Gossip On This - Pop Culture, News, Videos & Humor
