Two students, two teachers killed in Georgia high school shooting; 14-year-old charged as adult

Two students and two teachers were killed and nine other people were injured in a school shooting an hour’s drive from Atlanta, authorities said.

One of the suspects, a 14-year-old student, survived and was arrested after the shooting at Apalachee High School, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon.

The shooting victims were: Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53.

Both Aspinwall and Irimie taught math, according to the school’s website. Aspinwall also was the defensive coordinator for the football team.

The suspect, identified as Colt Gray, immediately surrendered to law enforcement after the confrontation, Hosey said. He cooperated with authorities and will be charged with murder and treated as an adult, according to Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jude Smith.

“He surrendered, got on the ground and the deputy arrested him,” Smith said.

Hosey said the suspect used an “AR-style weapon.” He was in custody at the Barrow County Detention Center and will be booked Wednesday evening and then transferred to the Regional Youth Detention Center, Hosey said.

Smith said authorities do not yet know how the shooter obtained the firearm or brought it to the school.

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The office said the nine people injured included eight students and one teacher. All are expected to recover, Hosey said.

Smith said all nine people taken to hospitals were injured in some way in the shooting, lamenting its “pure evil” and “hateful event.”

The motive was unclear. Smith said he did not know if the victims were targeted or if there was a connection between the shooter and the victims.

“I don’t know why this happened. Maybe I’ll never know. Maybe we’ll never know,” Smith said.

The evidence does not support the involvement of any additional shooters, Hosey said. He said investigators are working to determine whether any associates were involved in the shooting.

Investigators are also working to determine whether there are active threats against other Georgia schools, Hosey said.

Prior risk assessment

The Jackson County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office previously made contact with the suspect in May 2023, when he was 13 years old, in reference to a possible school shooting threat, according to a joint statement from the FBI’s Atlanta office and the sheriff’s office released Wednesday.

Jackson County is approximately 13 miles northeast of Barrow County.

This month, the FBI received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unknown time and location,” including images of a gun, the joint statement said.

Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the threats were coming from Georgia, and the sheriff’s office located and interviewed the teen and his father, the statement said.

The statement said the boy denied making online threats and at the time there was no probable cause for an arrest, but the county “notified local schools to continue monitoring the individual.”

The statement reads that the father, who was questioned as a witness, said he had hunting weapons at home but that his son did not have “unsupervised access” to them.

Hosey said investigators were working with the FBI Wednesday night to determine whether the incident had any connection to Wednesday’s shooting.

Active shooter call

The first call about an “active shooter” came in around 10:30 a.m., Smith said. Hosey said law enforcement officers and two school resource officers arrived on the scene within minutes of receiving reports of the shooting.

The call came from a teacher who pressed buttons on an ID tag that notifies law enforcement of an “active situation at the school,” Smith said Wednesday night. He said all teachers have one of those tags.

All Barrow County Schools campuses in Winder, Georgia, went into “soft lockdown,” with most activity centered around Apalachee High School, where police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances converged.

Students could be seen being led towards the school football stadium.

Eight people, including three with gunshot wounds, were taken to North Georgia Medical Center facilities in Barrow, Gainesville and Braselton, a hospital spokesman said. Five people had symptoms of panic attacks.

Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta confirmed it is treating one gunshot victim.

The daughter of one of the injured victims, golf coach David Phoenix, said her father’s hip was crushed after being hit in the foot and hip. In a Facebook post, she said he was in stable condition after surgery.

Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that he and his family are “heartbroken” by the shooting.

“We continue to work closely with local, state and federal partners to make available every resource that will assist this community during this incredibly difficult day and in the days ahead,” he said.

President Joe Biden said he mourned those killed and urged Congress to pass gun safety legislation.

“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now become another horrifying reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” Biden said in a statement.

“Students across the country are being taught to duck and hide instead of reading and writing,” he added. “We can no longer accept this as normal.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was “devastated” for the families affected and said the Justice Department stood ready to provide them with support.

Classes at Apalachee High School began August 1.

Barrow County Schools Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said schools will be closed through the end of the week.

According to Apalachee High’s website, it is the second high school in Barrow County; it opened in 2000.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com