A student at a school in South Memphis shot and injured another student before fleeing the scene and eventually turning himself in at a police precinct. 

The Memphis Police Department said in a statement that the 13-year-old victim was found with a gunshot wound and rushed to a local hospital where he reportedly underwent an emergency surgery. The incident took place at Cummings K-8 Optional School on Thursday morning. 

Meanwhile, the school was briefly placed on lockdown, and students were taken to a nearby church by a bus to be reunited with their parents.

“Certainly, at this point, we need everyone to be praying for that child and the child’s family so he can make a full recovery,” Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe said.

Ebonnie Hayslett, whose two nieces study at the school, rushed to the school to ensure that they were safe.

“The worst news you could receive is a shooting at a kids schoo. My main concern was the kids being OK, the teachers, the faculty. No one wants to go pick up their kids and be surrounded by SWAT cars and police officers,” Hayslett said. 

The shooting takes place amid a wave of gun violence in the Memphis area that has killed several people since the pandemic began. 

“This has to stop. This must stop. The gun violence must end,” Shelby County Schools superintendent Joris Ray said on Thursday. 

“We’re gonna do everything in our power — everything in our power — to keep this from ever happening again,” Ray added.