GADSDEN, Alabama (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to authorities, a police official gunned down a man who allegedly attempted to infiltrate an elementary school in northeast Alabama on Thursday morning.
A “potential intruder” tried opening multiple doors at Walnut Park Elementary School, which had staff and students inside for summer school, according to Gadsden City Schools Superintendent Tony Reddick.
Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton told ABC News that a school resource officer from the Rainbow City Police Department stepped outside to engage the man in dialogue before the situation escalated.
The SRO requested assistance from the Gadsden Police Department. According to the sheriff, responding deputies discovered the SRO in a physical confrontation with the accused on the school’s yard. According to Horton, a Gadsden cop fatally shot the man after repeated efforts to subdue him.
Horton stated that he had no idea if the man was armed. The suspect allegedly tried to seize the SRO’s gun, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is probing the shooting.
The suspect allegedly attempted to “make forcible entry” into a Rainbow City patrol car, according to ALEA, but did not attempt to enter the school.
Robert Tyler White, 32, of Bunnlevel, North Carolina, was identified as the suspect by ALEA.
The school’s doors were shut following “everything nationally,” according to Horton, referencing last month’s horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which a shooter entered the facility through an unlocked door.
Due to the ongoing police encounter, the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office issued an advisory soon after 10 a.m. encouraging residents to avoid the area surrounding the school.
According to authorities, the man never entered the school and children were evacuated to another place.
The Etowah County District Attorney ‘s Office will obtain the findings of ALEA’s investigation, according to the agency.
