In the first major campus shooting since the start of the school year, a 14-year-old boy shocked the US on Wednesday by killing two classmates and two teachers while injuring nine others at a high school in Georgia.
Investigators reported that the suspect, who had been investigated by law officials the previous year about threats made on the internet about carrying out a school shooting, was apprehended soon after the incident at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
Colt Gray, 14, was identified as the suspect, and Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, announced during a press conference that he will be charged and tried as an adult.
With a semiautomatic rifle, or “AR platform style weapon,” in his hands, the gunman was soon challenged by officers assigned to the school, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. The suspect swiftly dropped to the ground and turned himself up.
After being placed under arrest, the suspect spoke with detectives, who think he was acting alone but wouldn’t reveal if they understood why he did it.
Two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, as well as two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were officially announced deceased. Smith informed reporters that all nine hospitalized patients were anticipated to make a full recovery.
“Pure evil did what happened today,” Smith declared.
Later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that it had looked into threats made online to carry out a school shooting in 2023 and that local law enforcement had spoken with the father of a 13-year-old child who lived in adjacent Jackson County. Although the teen’s identity was not disclosed in the statement, Georgia authorities claimed it had something to do with the person under arrest.
