Two students and two teachers were killed and nine others injured in a devastating shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday.
Details are emerging about how it happened and the identity of the suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray, who was charged with four counts of felony murder on Thursday.
Here's what we know.
What happened?
The gunfire was first reported around 10:20 a.m. at Apalachee High School, roughly 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. Classes were in session just over a month into the school year, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said.
The call came in from a teacher who pressed buttons on a device that notifies law enforcement of an “active situation at the school,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said. He said that all teachers have one of these devices.
Witnesses told local reporters that they heard banging followed by a loud boom as students and teachers scrambled to hide.
The suspect, identified as Colt Gray, immediately surrendered after a sheriff’s deputy working as a school resource officer confronted him, authorities said.
Hosey said that Gray used an “AR platform-style weapon” and there is no evidence yet to support the involvement of additional shooters. It is still unclear how Gray obtained the gun and brought it into the school.
Hosey said that investigators are trying to clarify the timeline of events, from Gray's arrival at the school to the shooting.
Who were the victims?
The victims were identified as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Both Aspinwall and Irimie taught math at the high school, according to the school's website. Aspinwall was also a defense coordinator for the football team.
A GoFundMe page for Angulo has raised over $85,000 in donations.
“He was only 14 years old. He was a very good kid and very sweet and so caring,” said Angulo’s older sister, Lisette, who set up the page. “He was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected. We are truly heartbroken. He really didn’t deserve this.”
Who was injured?
The nine people injured included eight students and one teacher. Of those, one adult and six students were shot, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. All are expected to recover.
The daughter of one of the injured victims, golf coach David Phenix, said her father’s hip was shattered after he was struck in the foot and hip. In a Facebook post, she said he was in stable condition after surgery.
Who was the suspect? Did he make previous threats?
The suspect had shown interest in prior mass shootings, particularly the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
Gray was also investigated in May 2023 in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting, federal authorities said.
That month, the FBI had received a tip from a user on the chat platform Discord about online threats to commit a school shooting. The FBI traced the Discord account to a person with the same name as Gray's father and referred the case to the sheriff's department in Jackson County, where the teen was enrolled at Jefferson Middle School.
When the sheriff's office interviewed Gray and his father, the teen denied making the threats and said he had deleted his Discord account. His father was also interviewed and told investigators he had hunting guns in the home, but his son did not have unsupervised access to them, a statement from law enforcement said on Wednesday.
Local schools were alerted to continue monitoring Gray, but local authorities ultimately cleared the case after not being able to tie the teen to the online account that had made the threats.
Authorities are now investigating whether the 2023 threats are connected to Wednesday's shooting.
What are the charges against him?
Gray was charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday afternoon.
The teen is currently being held at the Gainesville Youth Detention Center, according to a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Corrections. He will have his first court appearance on Friday and will appear virtually from the center.
Father is charged day after shooting
Gray's father, Colin Gray, 54, was arrested on allegations that he allowed his son to possess a weapon, authorities announced Thursday.
Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News he bought an AR-15 style rifle for his son as a gift, after the two were questioned about the online threat last year.
At the time they were questioned about the online threat, the boy's father said there were hunting guns in the home but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them, the FBI and Jackson County Sheriff's Office said.
What are we hearing from the community?
The shooting has shaken the Apalachee High School community, with students recounting the moments of terror surrounding the event.
Ariel Bowling, an Apalachee sophom*ore, said the shooting was "just a really traumatic experience."
“I just feel like you’re basically never safe anywhere and no matter if there’s cops in the school, there’s still no safety at all,” Bowling said.
Another sophom*ore at the school, Miguel Eduardo Perichi Orta, said he was “upset and disappointed” over the deadly violence.
“If something like this can happen here, when you think it’s a normal day, it can happen anywhere, and that’s what really hurts,” he said.
Other students described the panic and fear they experienced when the shooting occurred. One student said she was "suffocating" as she sheltered in place.
The Winder community came together for a vigil on Wednesday night, with community members praying and lighting candles for the victims.
Politicians across the country have also expressed their shock and sadness over the shooting, some calling for gun reform legislation.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said the shooting was "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,” Biden added.
