GEORGIA: A tragic shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday claimed the lives of two students and two teachers, leaving nine others injured in the first mass campus shooting of the new school year.
The incident occurred at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, when 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire, according to investigators. Gray, who had previously been questioned by law enforcement over online threats in 2023, was quickly apprehended and will face charges as an adult, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith stated that Gray, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, surrendered to deputies assigned to the school. Although the investigation is ongoing, authorities believe Gray acted alone but have not disclosed a motive.
The victims were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. Sheriff Smith said the nine wounded were expected to recover. “What happened today was pure evil,” Smith told reporters.
The FBI confirmed it had previously investigated online threats by Gray last year. At the time, local law enforcement interviewed him and his father, who denied Gray had unsupervised access to guns. The FBI noted there had been no probable cause for an arrest, though nearby schools had been notified for monitoring.
The shooting has reignited national discussions on gun control. In Winder, a city of 18,000 located 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, a prayer vigil was held Wednesday night. Community members lit candles and prayed for the victims, with City Councilman Power Evans urging unity, saying, “We’re all hurting because when one of us is affected, we’re all affected.”
President Joe Biden addressed the nation, expressing grief over the “senseless” loss of life and urging Republicans to collaborate with Democrats on “common-sense gun safety legislation.” Vice President Kamala Harris echoed the sentiment during a campaign event, calling the shooting a “senseless tragedy” and emphasizing the need to end the gun violence epidemic.
Former President Donald Trump also offered condolences on social media, decrying the “sick and deranged monster” responsible for the deaths. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp refrained from discussing policy in the aftermath, stating, “Today is not the day for politics. Today is a day to mourn these precious lives.”
The shooting marked the first planned school attack of the fall, according to David Riedman, who manages the K-12 School Shooting Database.
The U.S. has experienced hundreds of school shootings over the past two decades, with the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting remaining the deadliest, claiming more than 30 lives. The ongoing tragedy continues to fuel the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.
