BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — Many are still grappling with the pain after a shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County Wednesday morning, where four people were killed, and nine others were hospitalized, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
As of Thursday, the shooter, identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the school, has been booked into to jail. His father, Colin Gray, is also facing charges in connection with the shooting. The GBI said he knowingly allowed his son to have the weapon.
Colt Gray will be charged with murder, the GBI said. Sheriff Jud Smith said that authorities were looking into how he obtained a weapon and got it into school Wednesday morning. Authorities said the gun was an automatic rifle but have not added any other details.
The bureau said deputies with the sheriff's office responded minutes after reports of an active shooter at 10:20 a.m. and encountered the suspect, who "immediately surrendered to these officers, and he was taken into custody."
The GBI identified the victims as the following:
- Teacher Richard Aspinwall, 39
- Teacher Cristina Irimie, 53
- Student Mason Schermerhorn, 14
- Student Christian Angulo, 14
"Obviously the shooter was armed, and our school resource officer engaged him and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an OIS (officer-involved shooting)," Sheriff Smith said, describing how the suspect was taken into custody. "He gave up, got on the ground and the (officer) took him into custody."
RELATED: Apalachee High School shooting; 4 dead, 9 hospitalized, suspect in custody: GBI | Live updates
"The shooter was interviewed, speaking with investigators earlier, along with the GBI," Sheriff Smith said. "It is helping our investigation."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the teen was actually investigated in 2023 by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office after Colt Gray allegedly posted online threats containing photos of guns in a threat to commit a school shooting. The time and location were unknown.
He was 13 years old at the time. At the time, the father said that though he had hunting guns in the house, his son did not have "unsupervised access" to them. The boy also denied making the online threats.
RELATED: Suspected Apalachee High shooter had been investigated last year for online threats: FBI Atlanta
The sheriff added, touching on a personal note: "This hits home for me, I was born and raised here, I went to school in this school system, my kids go to this school system. I'm proud of this school system, my heart hurts for these kids, my heart hurts for our community -- but I wanna make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known, love will prevail over what happened today. I assure you of that."
A woman, Katie Phenix, posted on Facebook that her father, David Phenix, had been among those shot and hospitalized. She said he was shot in the foot and hip, that his hip bone had been shattered and that he was in the hospital alert and stable following surgery.
On X, Gov. Brian Kemp posted a statement saying he and his family are "heartbroken" and that he will continue to "make any and all resources available to help this community on this incredibly difficult day and in the days to come."
President Joe Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were "mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed."
11Alive confirmed that Grady Hospital in Atlanta had received one patient. Northeast Georgia Medical Center said two patients were transported to their facility in Winder and one was taken to their larger hospital in Gainesville; five people also self-transported to their facilities with anxiety or panic attack symptoms.
Students were being released to parents and guardians around 11:30 a.m., the district told 11Alive.
School, Winder community response
The Barrow County School District said classes will be canceled at all schools in the district Thursday and Friday, with crisis counselors available at the central district offices from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Unconfirmed reports earlier circulated about other schools in the area, but there were no additional shooting scenes. The principal of Holsenbeck Elementary said in a Facebook post that all district schools were in a soft lockdown -- the principal indicated in a follow-up post at 1:47 p.m. that their lockdown was lifted and they would be dismissing at normal time.
Around 2 p.m., Winder Police asked parents picking up children at other schools to be patient with traffic. Winder Police said:
Schools will begin to transition from hard lockdowns to soft and will work to release students on time as this transition occurs. Buses will run as close to normal schedules as possible. The school asks that all parents choosing to pick up their children in person to please be patient as the traffic will be heavy. AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK ROADWAYS, SIDEWALKS, BUS AND CAR LANES AT SCHOOL SITES. Emergency vehicles are still needing to get in and out of the various schools and especially at Apalachee HS.
A community vigil is being planned for 7 p.m. tonight at Jug Tavern Park.
Live report
President Biden statement
Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed. 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. 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.
We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life.
Ending this gun violence epidemic is personal to me. It’s why I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most meaningful gun safety bill in decades – and have announced dozens of gun safety executive actions. I also established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. We’ve made significant progress, but this crisis requires even more.
After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers. These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart.
Gov. Brian Kemp statement
Marty, the girls, and I are heartbroken by today's tragedy at Apalachee High School. This is a day every parent dreads, and Georgians everywhere will hug their children tighter this evening because of this painful event. We continue to work closely with local, state, and federal partners to make any and all resources available to help this community on this incredibly difficult day and in the days to come.
Earlier:
I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state. We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.