Georgia school shooting: Families report ‘terrible’ news
According to official reports, several people were injured and at least four people were killed after a shooting at a school in Winder, Georgia.
A 14-year-old is accused of carrying out the deadliest shooting spree this year. Four people were killed and nine others injured at a high school in the US state of Georgia, authorities said.
Police said suspected gunman Colt Gray opened fire Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School in Winder, a rural town of just under 20,000 people about an hour northeast of Atlanta. Police arrived within minutes and arrested the teenager, who surrendered and was soon taken into custody, officials said. They added that he will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
Two students and two teachers were killed in the shooting: Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
The shooter used an AR-style weapon, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey. He said authorities are currently investigating how the weapon was obtained. Last year, local law enforcement spoke with Gray and his father about online threats to commit a school shooting made on Discord. There was no probable cause for an arrest at the time, officials said.
Here’s what we know so far about the suspected shooter:
FBI: Accused shooter questioned over shooting threats on Discord
The teenager had previously been on law enforcement’s radar after being linked to several online threats reported anonymously to the FBI last year, the federal agency said Wednesday.
In May 2023, the FBI tipped off the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office that a Discord user had threatened to “raid a school,” according to investigative reports obtained by USA TODAY. The threats also included images of weapons, the FBI said in a statement.
In addition to the threats, investigators noted in reports that the Discord user’s profile name was written in Russian and translated as “Lanza,” which investigators said was a reference to Adam Lanza, the man who killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
In an interview with investigators, Gray said he deleted his Discord account and denied the threats.
“Colt expressed concern that someone was accusing him of threatening to rob a school and stated that he would never say such a thing, even in jest,” the report said.
Officers also interviewed Gray’s father, who testified that he had “hunting rifles” in the house, but his son did not have “unrestricted access to them.”
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Did the officers identify a motive?
Law enforcement officials declined to comment on Wednesday on whether a motive for the shooting had been determined, stressing that the investigation was still in its early stages.
“The investigation is very, very slow,” said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith at a press conference outside the school. “What you see behind us is something evil.”
However, Smith told reporters he was not aware of any connection between the suspected shooter and the victims.
What leads are the authorities following up on?
Officials said in addition to online threats posted last year, they are also investigating whether the teen had any acquaintances involved in the shooting and whether there were any interactions between Gray, his family and child welfare services.
Hosey told reporters there was no indication another shooter was involved in the incident, adding that authorities would follow up on any leads about possible accomplices of the shooter.
“We are following up on all possible leads as part of our investigation to ensure that we find and identify any accomplices,” he said.
Hosey also told reporters Wednesday that investigators were aware of “previous contacts” the state Department of Children and Families had with “the suspect and his family.”
“We are also following this path to see if there is any connection with today’s incident,” he said.
Gray will perform for the first time on Friday
Gray was taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville overnight, Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, told USA TODAY. Gray will appear virtually before a judge at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Allen said.
It was not immediately clear whether Gray is represented by an attorney.
Schools across Barrow County will be closed for the remainder of the week as investigators attempt to determine if there is an active threat to schools in the region and the state of Georgia.
