Suspect and father in Apalachee High School shooting appear in Georgia court
The suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting and his father appeared before a judge Friday morning.
WINDER, Ga. – The vigil was over, the candles were blown out and the camera crews had left the Apalachee High School football stadium Sunday night, but Kayden Ballew couldn’t go on.
Sadness hung in the night air. Her school was a crime scene.
“I’m just stuck … scared everywhere I go now,” the 16-year-old sophomore told USA TODAY after the vigil outside the stadium’s stands. “It’s a lot to process.”
Teenagers who escaped last week’s quadruple murder at Apalachee High say they are struggling to come to terms with the deaths of two teenagers and two teachers in Wednesday’s attack. Student Colt Gray, 14, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. His father, Colin Gray, is also charged with murder, manslaughter and child abuse for giving his son access to the AR-14 rifle used in the attack.
More: Mother of Georgia attacker said she called school before attack, report says
The Apalachee shooting was the 139th gun incident on school campus this year, according to gun control organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
For Apalachee students, the biggest struggle right now is getting through the day.
Ballew said she had a close relationship with Ricky Aspinwall, a 39-year-old math teacher and football coach who was killed in Wednesday’s shooting. When she heard he was among those killed, “I was shocked” at the “traumatizing” news, she said. In addition to Aspinwall, students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53, were also killed in the shooting. Eight students and one teacher were injured.
Ballew, who grew up in the Winder area, said the solidarity of her community gave her strength.
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Still, she avoids reminders of the shooting. “I distract myself because it’s everywhere,” she said. “When I see something about it, I just go with it because it always reminds me of it.”
Like Ballew, Nicholas North, 17, an Apalachee student, said he was happy to see the school’s students, teachers and families come together for Sunday’s vigil. “It’s just been a very emotional week,” he said.
Nevertheless, he feels “shocked”.
“It still hurts,” North said. “I still think about it. It will probably never go away.”
