‘An evil thing’: 4 killed, others injured at Ga. high school

WINDER, Ga. - A school shooting killed four people and injured nine others in Barrow County on Wednesday, and authorities arrested a 14-year-old suspect who was previously interviewed for online threats.

FBI officials confirm the subject from the 2023 threats is Colt Gray, the suspect in Apalachee High School’s deadly shooting.

He faces a court hearing Friday in connection with Wednesday’s shooting rampage.

The FBI said that in May 2023, it got several anonymous tips about online threats – which contained photos of guns – to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.

The online threats were traced to Jackson County, where deputies found a then-13-year-old boy and interviewed him and his father.

“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” the FBI and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday in a t statement. “The subject denied making the threats online.”

On Wednesday, Gray was arrested as hundreds of law enforcement officers swarmed Apalachee High after the deadly shooting.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said four people were killed – two students and two teachers – and nine were taken to hospitals with injuries.

The GBI identified the slain teachers as Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall. The slain students were Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14.

PHOTO GALLERY | THE VICTIMS:

Gray, also a student at the school, will be charged as an adult, authorities said.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that multiple law enforcement sources said the school got a phone call warning there would be shootings at five schools and that Apalachee would be the first. Authorities are investigating.

While there are many unanswered questions, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith was clear about one thing:

“What you see behind us is an evil thing,” he said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon while standing outside the school.

He called the investigation “very active” and “ever-fluid,” with new information emerging minute by minute.

”It’s very early,” he said, adding that “it will take days” to get answers.

All of the wounds suffered in the incident were due to gunshots, according to authorities.

Authorities said they hadn’t made a connection between the suspect and the victims and couldn’t give details on how many rounds were fired from the AR platform-style gun that was used.

With roads blocked up to a mile away, panicked parents set out on foot running to the school to check on their kids. They were reunified starting around 1 p.m.

The first report of the shooting came in at 10:20 a.m., authorities said, and officers and medical personnel from multiple agencies were sent.

Gray was confronted by a school resource officer, and the teenager immediately got down on the ground and surrendered, authorities said.

Smith said the boy surrendered because it was clear things would not go well for him.

Ambulances rushed to the nearly 2,000-student school about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, along with medical helicopters.

At least one person was loaded into the helicopter on a stretcher around 11:20 a.m. and flown to Grady Memorial Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center. A new helicopter arrived around 12:10 p.m.

At least eight ground ambulances, including ones from other counties, responded, with several leaving the school with lights and sirens on.

A heavily armed group of law enforcement officers were seen in formation entering the building. Then individual officers in tactical gear continued to prowl the perimeter as late as 1 p.m.

The FBI was on the scene along with officers from about a dozen other agencies, including the Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

At a news conference late Wednesday afternoon, the choked-up sheriff called the shooting an act of “pure evil.”

“This hits home for me,” he said. “I was born and raised here. I went to this school system.”

He added: “My heart hurts for these kids.”

He said: “Hate will not prevail in this county. ... Love will prevail over what happened here.”

Smith said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reached out and offered all the resources it would take.

“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Kemp said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp added.

BY THE NUMBERS:

The Gun Violence Archive said that in Georgia schools since 2022, there have been:

• 97 gun incidents
• Five gun fatalities
• 17 gun injuries
• 72 arrests for gun incidents

It’s unclear how the gun got into the school. The student code of conduct says the school has the ability to conduct screening with handheld metal detectors.

However, students said metal detectors aren’t used at the school.

Officials say they were notified of the shooting via the Centegix emergency alert system. A staff member pressed the button on their ID card and alerted law enforcement.

Here at home, schools in McDuffie counties use Centegix, and Columbia County uses a similar system.

Schools in Barrow County will stay closed for the rest of the week, and even Atlanta schools an hour away beefed up security out of an abundance of caution.

Reaction pours in from across state, nation

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the matter and the istration would continue coordinating with federal, state and local officials.

“Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed. What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” Biden said in a statement. “Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”

Biden called on Congress to take action to stop incidents like this one by ing “common sense” gun legislation.

A White House official said Vice President Kamala Harris has been briefed on the shooting.

At a campaign event Wednesday afternoon, Harris called the shooting a “senseless tragedy” and said: “It’s just outrageous that every day, in our country, in the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive.”

Former President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform:

“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA. These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy.”

“The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or that the Winder community needs in the days ahead,” he added.

State Superintendent Richard Woods said he was saddened by the shooting.

“This is an unimaginable loss for Barrow and for our entire educational community across the state,” he said. “The Georgia Department of Education is actively monitoring the situation.”

Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson said: “My heart and prayers are with the students, teachers, and faculty of Apalachee High School as well as the City of Winder and Barrow County.”

U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff was thankful for first responders.

“I send my condolences to the families of the deceased, those injured in the attack, and all who witnessed such a tragic event. “I thank all first responders and local law enforcement who responded to the scene and have taken the suspect into custody,” he said. “I remain in communication with local leaders and continue to monitor the situation closely as the investigation continues.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock posted on X:

“My heart breaks for the families of the victims at Apalachee High School & for every student. The entire Winder community is in my prayers, but we can’t pray only with our lips—we must pray by taking action.”

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.