4 dead, 9 hospitalized in shooting at Georgia high school
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A young girl and her mother watch as law enforcement and first responders surround Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., after a mass shooting on Wednesday. Photo: Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images
A 14-year-old Apalachee High School student has been charged with murder after four people died and nine others were injured in a shooting at the Winder, Georgia, school on Wednesday, officials said.
The big picture: Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey identified the suspected shooter as 14-year-old Colt Gray, and said he will be tried as an adult. Investigators believe the suspect used an "AR-platform-style weapon," Hosey said at a Wednesday night news conference.
- Georgia authorities identified the two students killed in the shooting as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-years-old, and math teachers Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, who was also an assistant football coach.
- Of the additional nine people injured, the GBI said eight were students and one was a teacher. "We don't expect any more fatalities at this time," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at the Wednesday evening news conference.
Of note: The Jackson County Sheriff's Office interviewed the shooting suspect last year, the FBI's Atlanta office said on X Wednesday evening.
- "In May 2023, the FBI's National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time," per the post.
- "Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia and the FBI's Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office for action."
Catch up quick: Hosey said at a news conference earlier Wednesday that law enforcement received a call about an active shooter around 9:30am at the school.
- Local law enforcement and school resource officers arrived within minutes at the school and encountered the suspect, whom Hosey said "immediately surrendered" to police.
- "Obviously the shooter was armed, and our school resource officer engaged him and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an OIS — an officer-involved shooting," Smith said.
- Those injured people were transported to "various hospitals" including Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.
- The school was evacuated; the nearby elementary and middle schools were placed on a "soft lockdown," the AJC reported.
What they're saying: Hosey said the school's faculty and staff were "heroes" for the actions that they took.
- "The protocols in this school and this system activated today prevented this from being a much larger tragedy than what we had here today so I want to recognize them," he said as he also praised the shooting victims and law enforcement who responded.
Zoom in: Apalachee High School student Zyrianna Finch told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she heard a quick succession of shots being fired.
- "Then my teacher told us to get in the closet, so we all got in the closet," she said.
- Another student, Lyela Sayarath, told CNN that the suspect left their Algebra 1 class at the beginning of the lesson and another student noticed he had a gun when he returned and knocked on the door, so they didn't open the door.
- "I guess he saw we weren't going to let him in," she said. "And I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open so I think he just started shooting in the classroom."
- The city of Winder organized a vigil scheduled for 7pm Wednesday at Jug Tavern Park.
Zoom out: Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that he's directed all available state resources to help with the incident and urged "all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state."
- Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement that police chief Darin Schierbaum was in contact with the Atlanta Public Schools Police Department to boost patrols around schools "out of an abundance of caution."
- President Biden said "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."
Between the lines: Winder, Barrow County, is located about an hour northeast of Atlanta, and has a population of just under 19,000 as of 2022, per the Census Bureau.
- Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students enrolled and is one of three high schools in the Barrow County School System, which educates a little more than 15,000 students.
What's next: Barrow County schools superintendent Dallas LeDuff said classes will be canceled for the rest of the week.
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Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
