Apalachee High School, outside of Atlanta, Georgia, is reeling from a shooting that left four people dead, and dozens more injured. The victims have been identified as 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall, and 53-year-old Christina Irimie.
Nine others were also injured in the attack. All those who were transferred to the hospital are expected to recover.
The suspected shooter was a student
The suspected shooter, 14-year-old Colt Gray, was a student at the school. Authorities say he fired an AR-15-style rifle in Wednesday’s rampage. Local law enforcement has taken him into custody and charged him with murder. In emotional remarks to the press, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith described the incident as an act of “pure evil.” “My heart hurts for these kids,” he added.
He said Gray will be handled like an adult by the justice system. He’s been charged with four counts of felony murder. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, of the nine victims who were injured, seven were shot. Colt’s father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, is also being held accountable. He’s charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey told the press on Thursday.
Gray’s mother rushed to the school after he sent her a cryptic text
Gray’s mother Marcee called the school counselor to warn them, and drove 200 miles to try to reach the school after he sent her a cryptic text saying “I’m sorry mom” on the morning of the shooting, Gray’s grandfather told CNN.
According to a screenshot obtained by the Washington Post, Marcee texted her sister after the shooting, saying: “I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school. I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him.”
Marcee’s sister, Annie, told the Post that the counselor told Marcee that Colt had been talking about a school shooting that morning.
Gray was interviewed by federal investigators last year
According to federal investigators, Gray was interviewed in May 2023 after the F.B.I.’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips regarding threats made to a school in a group chat on Discord. They reportedly included pictures of guns. The account’s username consisted of Russian letters that translate to “Lanza” in English — the last name of the shooter who murdered 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Gray reportedly denied making the threats.
When investigated, Gray and his father told authorities they did not speak Russian and claimed he’d deleted his Discord account after it was hacked; he said he was “afraid someone would use his information for nefarious purposes.” Gray added he would “never say such a thing, even in a joking manner,” according to a report from the Jackson County sheriff’s office.
“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” a joint statement from FBI Atlanta and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office statement said.
Law enforcement officials said the tip about the threat couldn’t be substantiated: “At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels,” the agencies said.
Greg Mann, a local parent, said that many of the students who’d fled to the football field when they heard gunfire had left their belongings — including their phones — inside. Mann told 11 Alive, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, that he was helping them to get in touch with their families. “Nobody’s seen this coming,” he said. “You don’t really know what to do.”
Political leaders respond
As officials try to piece together what happened, President Biden called it a “horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” and repeated his call for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“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,” he added. “We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”
Vice President Kamala Harris went off script during a New Hampshire rally, calling the shooting a “senseless tragedy,” adding that “it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Former President Trump posted on Truth Social, “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.”
The 45th school shooting this year
According to CNN, Wednesday’s attack is at least the 45th school shooting this year and the deadliest so far. There have been 385 mass shootings in 2024 — an average of 1.5 per day, per the Gun Violence Archive.
