LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 6, 2024:
WINDER, Ga. – Four people were fatally shot and nine others were hospitalized after a mass shooting on Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey confirmed Wednesday evening that two students and two teachers were killed.
The victims have been identified as 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall, 53-year-old Christina Irimie, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. The hospitalized victims include eight students and one teacher, all of whom are expected to recover.
Aspinwall and Irimie were both math teachers at the school. Aspinwall was also the school football team’s defensive coordinator and previously coached at nearby Mountain View High School.
Apalachee High School Shooting Timeline
Student Lyela Sayarath told CNN that the suspected shooter left her classroom at the beginning of their math class around 9:45 a.m.
“He never really talked. He was pretty quiet,” she said of her classmate. “He wasn’t there most times. Either he just didn’t come to school or he’d just skip class.”
The suspected gunman then returned near the end of class and knocked to get back in since the doors lock automatically, according to Sayarath. Another student went to let him in but noticed he had a gun and backed away. The gunman then went to the classroom next door and opened fire.
At about 10:20 a.m., multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the school shooting, following reports of an active shooter on campus, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Staff alerted authorities by pressing an emergency button on wearable badges from Centegix, according to The Washington Post and CNN. The system has been in place for about a week, said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.
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Immediately after the school shooting began, the campus was placed on lockdown. History teacher Stephen Kreyenbuhl told the Washington Post that he heard at least 10 shots ring out nearby at about the same time a lockdown alert flashed on a screen in his classroom. Parents were notified of the lockdown at about 10:45 a.m. and students were evacuated to the school’s football field. The building was cleared by 11:30 a.m., reports Fox5Atlanta. Other schools in the area, including Winder-Barrow High School, were also placed on lockdown as a precaution, although no threats were found.
The suspected active shooter, who has been identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, surrendered when confronted by a school resource officer. He is an Apalachee High School student and will be charged with murder as an adult, Hosey said. The teen is currently being held at Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.
Multiple law enforcement officials told CNN that the school received a phone threat the morning of the shooting. The call said there would be five shootings, with Apalachee being the first. It’s not clear if the shooter had any connection to the phone threat.
This is the deadliest school shooting this year, according to CNN. There have been 45 school shootings in 2024, including 32 on K-12 campuses.
Apalachee High School is located in Winder, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Barrow County schools will be closed for the rest of the week.
Police Interviewed Apalachee High School Shooting Suspect in 2023
The FBI confirmed Wednesday night that the suspected shooter and his father were interviewed by law enforcement last year in connection with school shooting threats posted online, according to the NY Times.
“In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” the FBI wrote on X. “Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action.”
Related Article: Father of Apalachee High School Shooter Arrested, Charged with Second-Degree Murder
The father told investigators he had hunting guns in the house but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them. Officials said the teen used an “AR-platform-style weapon” during the attack. The teen denied making threats online. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office subsequently alerted schools in the area about “monitoring” the teen but said there was no probable cause for arrest.
Father of Apalachee School Shooter Charged with Second-Degree Murder
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey announced Thursday evening that the father of the suspected shooter, 54-year-old Colin Gray, was arrested because he “knowingly allowed” his son to possess the weapon. Gray said he purchased the gun allegedly used in the killings as a Christmas present for his son in Dec. 2023. He has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children
Karen McDonald, the attorney who prosecuted the Oxford High School shooter and his parents, said the “set of facts seem so similar” in both cases and that it’s “incredibly difficult to see it repeated.” The Oxford shooter’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, were the first parents in U.S. history to be held criminally responsible for their child’s actions in a mass shooting. Both were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
McDonald urged parents to do more to keep firearms out of the hands of their children.
“It’s a deadly weapon. And it’s a 14-year-old young man. The first question has to be, where did he get that gun? And the details that are coming out are very concerning,” she said. “It takes 10 seconds to install a cable lock. Ten seconds that would prevent tragedies like this, and responsible gun owners know that.”
