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(NewsNation) — Two students and two teachers were killed Wednesday in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that also left nine others injured, according to local authorities. A 14-year-old student surrendered to law enforcement and is in custody.
Authorities named Apalachee student Colt Gray as the suspect. He was charged Thursday with four counts of felony murder with additional charges expected to follow. He will make his first court appearance Friday morning.
Killed were two 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and instructors Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said in a nighttime news conference.
At least nine other people — eight students and one teacher — were taken to hospitals with injuries. All were expected to survive, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said.
Classes in the school district have been canceled throughout the week, but grief counselors will be available, according to district officials. Authorities are expected to hold another media briefing Wednesday evening.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith choked up as he began to speak during an afternoon news conference. He said he was born and raised in the community and his kids are in the school system.
“My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community,” he said. “But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Love will prevail over what happened today.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said internet reports of additional shootings at “nearby schools” are false.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., “officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting,” the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
All Barrow County schools were in a soft lockdown, according to nearby Holsenbeck Elementary School.
Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County’s second-largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System. It’s named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.
Jordan Jacob, who lives near the school, told NewsNation that the scene was not as chaotic as it was earlier in the day but that there is still a heavy police presence.
“What makes this even more scary is that my wife is a professor at Georgia Gwinnett College. And right now, just because of this incident … she literally wound up canceling class today.”
FBI investigated suspect in 2023
The teen had been interviewed after the FBI received anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats to commit an unspecified school shooting, the agency said in a statement.
The FBI narrowed the threats down and referred to the case to the sheriff’s department in Jackson County, which is adjacent to Barrow County.
The sheriff’s office interviewed the then-13-year-old and his father, who said there were hunting guns in the house but the teen did not have unsupervised access to them. The teen also denied making any online threats.
The sheriff’s office alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the teen, but there was no probable cause for arrest to additional action, the FBI said.
Hosey said the state Division of Family and Children’s Services also had previous contact with the teen and will investigate whether that has any connection with the shooting.
Authorities were still looking into how the suspect obtained the gun used in the shooting and got it into the school in Barrow County, a rapidly suburbanizing area on the edge of metro Atlanta’s ever-expanding sprawl.
Response to shooting
Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that he was praying for the “safety of those in our classrooms.”
“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” the statement read in part.
The GBI has agents on the scene assisting local, state and federal law enforcement with the investigation.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, according to the White House, which said in a statement that his administration “will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information.”
“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,” a statement from the president read in part.
Vice President and 20204 presidential candidate Kamala Harris addressed the shooting during a rally in New Hampshire.
“This is just a senseless tragedy — on top of so many senseless tragedies,” Harris 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. It’s senseless.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also offered Winder support.
“The Atlanta Police Department has also been on standby in case law enforcement agencies need assistance with this incident. May God comfort the victims and their loved ones in the difficult days ahead,” the mayor said.