Georgia school shooting live updates
Georgia Apalachee School Shooting
Georgia Apalachee School Shooting, Georgia school shooting live updates: Two students and two teachers have been killed at Apalachee High School, with a 14-year-old now in custody.
A 14-year-old student opened fire at a high school in Georgia on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of four individuals, according to authorities. The incident caused students to rush for safety in their classrooms and later to the football stadium, as law enforcement flooded the campus and parents hurried to learn if their children were safe.
The deceased have been identified as two students and two teachers from Apalachee High School in Winder, located roughly an hour’s drive from Atlanta. The victims included two 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with their instructors, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, as stated by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey during a late-night news conference.
The phrase “hard lockdown” flashed on a screen in junior Layla Ferrell’s health class, and the lights started blinking. She remembered how she and her terrified classmates quickly stacked desks and chairs against the door to form a barricade.
A 14-year-old student has been accused of killing four individuals at Apalachee High School, and federal authorities revealed that he was investigated last year for making threats about a potential school shooting. The teenager reportedly made these threats online and shared images of firearms, according to officials.
In the tragic incident that occurred yesterday in Winder, Georgia, four people—two teachers and two students—lost their lives, while nine others sustained injuries.
The suspect, identified as Colt Gray, surrendered to law enforcement without resistance and will face charges as an adult, according to officials.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has confirmed the identities of the deceased victims: Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Christina Irimie, 53; and Richard Aspinwall, 39.
Officials stated that the nine injured victims are expected to make a full recovery, and among those hurt is the school’s golf coach, as shared by his daughter on social media.
Ariel Bowling, a sophomore at Apalachee High School, was on her way to a vending machine with a friend when she suddenly heard gunfire yesterday.
“We had gotten about halfway out of the room, and there’s a brick wall, so you can’t really see who’s in the hall. Then we heard shots fired, and we ran back into the room, piling on top of each other in the corner,” she shared on NBC’s “TODAY” show Thursday morning.
Her mother, Tabitha, remembered getting a call from her daughter — followed by the sound of five gunshots.
“Then the phone went dead, and I didn’t know if she was hurt or if she was calling 911,” the mother recounted.
Bowling described the shooting as “just a really traumatic experience,” especially since it happened in a place meant to protect and nurture children.
“I just feel like you’re basically never safe anywhere, and even with cops in the school, there’s still no safety at all,” Bowling expressed.
After reducing the scope of the threats, the FBI forwarded the investigation to the Jackson County, which borders Barrow County, sheriff’s office.
The 13-year-old and his father were interrogated by the sheriff’s office, and they stated that although there were hunting rifles in the home, the adolescent did not have unsupervised access to them. The teenager denied posing any threats online as well.
The FBI stated that there was no probable cause for an arrest or further action, despite the sheriff’s office notifying nearby schools to keep an eye on the teenager.
According to Hosey, the state’s Division of Family and Children’s Services has spoken with the teenager in the past and would look into if there was a link between that and the shooting.
Authorities were still investigating how the suspect entered the school in Barrow County, a fast suburbanizing region on the outside of metro Atlanta’s ever-expanding sprawl, and obtained the pistol used in the attack.
Smith started to speak at a press conference in the afternoon but became choked up. He claimed that his children attend schools and that he was reared in the neighborhood.
