Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about an hour east of Atlanta, is at the center of another school shooting in the United States.
Four people are dead—two students and two teachers—and nine people were taken to the hospital for injuries, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI said the shooter is alive and has been taken into custody.
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The suspect has been identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, who attended the school, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Investigators are still determining a motive behind the attack. Gray was interviewed by law enforcement officers back in 2023 after multiple tips regarding threats he had made online, according to the FBI.
Gray will be charged with murder as an adult.
The two students and two teachers who were slain have also been identified. Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were both 14. Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, was a teacher and assistant football coach, and Christina Irimie was a math teacher at the school.
“Never thought this would happen in this small county,” said a 10th-grade student at the public high school, which enrolls approximately 1,900 students.
Apalachee High School will remain closed for the remainder of the week.
Jud Smith, the Barrow County Sheriff, asked for patience as they investigate the scene. “Please let us get the facts that we need to make sure we get this right,” he said during a news conference. He said that the process will span multiple days as they attempt to determine the shooter’s motives and what led to this tragedy.
Brian Kemp, the governor of Georgia, wrote in a statement on X that “we will continue to work with local, state and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to the situation.”
Georgia’s 10th Congressional District representative, Mike Collins, also shared a post on X expressing his sorrow following the incident. “We extend our gratitude to law enforcement for their swift action to secure the school and get the shooter in custody,” he wrote. “I have spoken with Sheriff Smith and told him my team and I are available to assist in any way necessary. We will continue to monitor and provide updates as prudent.”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that there have more than a dozen mass shootings in Georgia this year.
