The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Wednesday afternoon that as of 2 pm yesterday, the death toll is four students and nine others injured in a high school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The school has about 1,900 pupils and the incident occurred around 10:20 local time (14:20 GMT).
The local sheriff Jud Smith said the attack was "pure evil".
The 14-year-old suspect is in custody and it is unknown whether he attended the school.
Yesterday, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp urged the state to join him in prayer Wednesday for the families.
“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,” Kemp said in a statement on X Wednesday morning. “We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”
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The shooter is identified as Colt Gray, who will be charged with murder in the deaths of 2 students and 2 teachers. He “immediately surrendered” to school officers.
Chris Hosey, the Georgia Bureau of Investigat’sion director, said the sheriff’s office received calls of an active shooter at the school at around 10:20 am.
Law enforcement arrived at the scene “within minutes,” Hosey said, in addition to two school resources officers who were assigned to Apalachee High.
The resource officers “immediately encountered the subject within just minutes of this report going out,” Hosey said.
“Once they encountered the subject, the subject immediately surrendered to these officers and he was taken into custody,” Hosey said.
There were 9 additional victims, including 8 students and 1 teacher. All were treated at local hospitals after the Wednesday morning shooting and are expected to survive.
Last night, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at an evening news conference that the gun was an AR-platform weapon. This conflicts with what a law enforcement official previously told CNN, that it was an AR-15-style.
AR-platform weapons
AR-15
According to CNN, the suspect and his father were questioned by law enforcement last year regarding “anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting,” according to FBI Atlanta and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest.
From BBC News
"Within minutes law enforcement was on scene, as well as two school resource officers assigned to the school who immediately encountered the subject," the sheriff said in a news conference.
"The subject immediately surrendered. He gave up, got on the ground. And the officers took him into custody."
Officials said no motive had been identified and that law enforcement did not know of "any targets at this point".
According to the FBI, investigators had visited the suspect in May 2023 and interviewed him and his father about threats posted online which included pictures of guns.
"The father stated that he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them," the FBI said in a statement.
The suspect, who was 13-years-old at the time, denied making the online threats and officials "alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject".
"At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels."
One of those killed on Wednesday was 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, who was autistic, according to local outlet WSB-TV.
Family members had posted Mason's photo on social media after they couldn't find him and later reportedly confirmed he did not survive the shooting.
Teacher and coach David Phenix was injured after being shot in the foot and hip, shattering his hip bone, according to his family's social media posts.
He had surgery but was in a stable condition, someone who identified herself as his daughter said on Facebook.
Law enforcement have not said what type of weapon was used, or how many bullets were fired.
The suspect was interviewed and spoke with investigators once in custody, Sheriff Smith said.
"This is going to take multiple days for us to get answers as to what happened and why this happened," he told reporters.
Dozens of police officers swiftly responded to the shooting at the school, which was placed on lockdown and cleared, with pupils taken to a nearby football stadium before being released to their families.
Lyela Sayarath, who was in the alleged attacker's class, told CNN that the suspect left the room at the beginning of their algebra lesson.
She said he came back and knocked on the door, which had locked automatically, but another student refused to let him in after noticing he had a gun.
Ms Sayarath told CNN the attacker then went to the classroom next door, where he began shooting.
Alexsandra Romero, a second-year pupil, said she was sitting in class when someone came barging in and shouted at students, warning them to get down.
"I can just remember my hands were shaking," she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I felt bad because everybody was crying, everybody was trying to find their siblings.
"I can still picture everything, like the blood, the shouting."
Getty Images
Marques Coleman, 14, said he saw the attacker holding a "big gun" just before the shooting began.
"I got up, I started running, he started shooting like, like 10 times. He shot at least 10 times," he told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
"My teacher started barricading the door with desks," he said.
After standing up, the pupil said he saw "one of my classmates on the ground bleeding so bad", another girl shot in the leg and a friend shot in the stomach.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was "praying for the safety of those in our classrooms" and that he was directing "all available state resources" to assist.
Speaking at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Democratic White House candidate Vice-President Kamala Harris called the shooting "a senseless tragedy".
"It's just outrageous that every day in our country... that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether their child will come home alive.
"It doesn't have to be this way."
Republican White House candidate Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social: "These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland, the top law enforcement official in the US, said federal agents were helping the investigation.
"I gave him a big hug" - Parents reunite with kids after school shooting.
"Our thoughts remain with those affected by the tragic situation that is unfolding in Barrow County School District located just north of Atlanta. While this situation is not related to any of our schools here in Chatham County, it does remind us of the importance of school safety. SCCPSS remains committed to a multi-layered security approach in our daily school operations and OUR Campus Police Department has established partnerships with other police and emergency agencies in our area.
Once again, the tragic events in Barrow County Schools are not related to our area and we have no reports of any disturbances in Chatham County. In an abundance of caution, our Campus Police Officers will be on a heightened level of patrol this afternoon. We remind all in our school family that students and staff will react in different ways to the news of this event. We should all understand that there will be a variety of emotions and responses to life changing events happening around us. The most important thing we can do is to be supportive and encourage an open expression of feelings. Our thoughts remain with the Barrow County School System in this tragic time.
Once again, there are no reports of any disturbances in Chatham County; however, in an abundance of caution, our Campus Police Officers will be on a heightened level of patrol this afternoon. We remind all of our SCCPSS family that safety is a shared responsibility and if you see anything suspicious around any of our schools please report it. If you See Something, Say Something."
Above: After the shooting, students gathered in a circle of prayer. See the video here.
Lord God of All the Ages,
Be with the families of those lost and injured, we pray. Help them cope, help them be comforted through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Minister to their hearts, Oh God! Comfort the parents and siblings, help them feel Your love and light through the darkness.
Help the injured. Repair their wounds as only You can do, and grant them a rapid recovery from their injuries. Guide the doctors and nurses to Your perfect will, Dear God, and help them NOW with your magnificent, healing power that transcends all time and space, WE PRAY!
Help the other survivors, especially the first classroom that could have been killed. Repair the minds of the trauma, provide the needed resources so that Your healing of mind, body, and soul shall work for GOOD, and not for the evil that was intended.
Help people come to know You through this travesty. Help closer bonds form between parent and child, brother and sister, neighbor and neighbor. Bless the school, the teachers and staff, as well as law enforcement, so that Your grace and love overpowers anything the evil one tries to accomplish. Instead, lead others to You for ALL ETERNITY! In the Name of JESUS, the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES! Amen!
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Hey guys ever heard of DOD mind control experiments. MK Ultra mind control? It exists and is way far advanced than you think it is and can be deployed on radio carrier waves.
I'm wondering if he was on SSRI's and if recently vaccinated, because the meds have been noted before as causing behavior changes in previous teen shooter's.
Hey guys ever heard of DOD mind control experiments. MK Ultra mind control? It exists and is way far advanced than you think it is and can be deployed on radio carrier waves.
I'm wondering if he was on SSRI's and if recently vaccinated, because the meds have been noted before as causing behavior changes in previous teen shooter's.