Four people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, Wednesday.
USA Today reports that the victims include two students and two teachers, identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
Colt Gray, 14, a student at the school, was arrested and charged with murder.
Authorities confirmed that Gray will be prosecuted as an adult.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that the suspect used an AR-style rifle, and an investigation is ongoing to determine how the weapon was obtained and brought into the school.
Nine individuals, including eight students and one teacher, were hospitalised with injuries that were not life-threatening, GBI Director Chris Hosey said
The shooting prompted a lockdown of schools across Barrow County as a precaution.
Community reacts
Barrow County Sheriff, Jud Smith, emphasised the gravity of the situation, calling it “an evil thing.”
“This is a very, very fluid investigation,” Smith said in a news conference outside the school. “What you see behind us is an evil thing,” Smith said.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden also extended their condolences, calling for urgent action on gun control legislation.
“We cannot continue to accept this as normal,” 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,” Biden said. “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.”
Killing figures in US since 2006
According to a database by USA Today, the Associated Press, and Northeastern University, Wednesday’s massacre is the 604th mass killing in the U.S. since 2006 in which four or more people are killed. The database has tracked 3,120 fatalities in mass killings across the United States in 18 years.
A USA Today analysis of the data found Gray is the youngest suspected school shooter behind a mass killing since at least 2006.
The massacre in Georgia is the first school mass killing this fall after the 2023-24 school year saw a dramatic rise in shootings with at least 144 instances of gun violence, according to a recent study. Everytown for Gun Safety and David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, found gun violence at schools killed 36 people and injured 87 others in the previous academic year.
FBI tipped in 2023
The suspected Georgia shooter, Gray, was interviewed by local law enforcement in 2023, FBI Atlanta disclosed on X on Wednesday.
FBI’s National Threat Operations Centre received anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats involving a school shooting. The threats included gun images but lacked details on location or timing.
The FBI shared this information with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which subsequently interviewed Gray and his father.
The father, who is not named in the post, told the sheriff’s office at the time that he had hunting guns at home but said his son didn’t have “unsupervised access” to them, FBI Atlanta said.
Gray, who was 13 at the time, denied making the threats online, according to FBI Atlanta, and Jackson County alerted local schools for “continued monitoring” of him.
FBI Atlanta said that there was no probable cause for arrest or further action by law enforcement at the time.
Apalachee High School is in Barrow County and not a part of Jackson County schools. It is unclear whether Gray attended a school in Jackson County before moving into the Barrow County School District.
Schools closed
All Barrow County schools were placed on lockdown Wednesday morning as a precaution. Superintendent Dallas LeDuff later announced that schools would remain closed for the rest of the week, and crisis counselling would be offered to students.
Apalachee High, one of two high schools in the district, has about 1,900 students in Winder, a rural town near Athens, Georgia.
Officials offer prayers, support
State and federal officials, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, have called for prayers and support for the community.
Vice President Kamala Harris decried the ongoing gun violence epidemic, stating, “We have to end this epidemic once and for all.”
State officials are closely monitoring the situation, directing resources to Apalachee High.
Kemp said, “I have directed all available state resources… and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms.”
President Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed and will coordinate with officials.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed sympathy, saying, “I’m devastated for the families affected by this terrible tragedy.”
Rep. Mike Collins added, “Leigh Ann and I are praying for the victims, their families, and all students at Apalachee High.”
Trump reacts
Former President, Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Wednesday afternoon that “our hearts are with the victims and loved ones” affected by the shooting.
“These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster,” Trump wrote.
Kamala Harris reacts
Harris said during a campaign rally in New Hampshire that it is “outrageous” that parents have to worry about whether their children will come home alive.
“We’re still gathering information about what happened. But we know that there were multiple fatalities and injuries,” Harris said. “Our hearts are with all the students, the teachers and the families, of course. And we are grateful to the first responders and law enforcement that were on the scene. But this is just a senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies.”
Harris said it “doesn’t have to be this way” and it needs to stop. “We have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all,” she said.
