Apalachee High School is part of the Barrow County School District in Winder, Georgia. [Photo is a still shot from a promotional video on the school’s Facebook page.]

On September 4th, around 10:00 a.m., a mass shooting occurred at Apalachee High school in Winder, Georgia leaving 2 teachers and 2 students deceased as well as 9 others injured.  

According to reports from USA Today, police say the suspected shooter Colt Gray, “opened fire Wednesday morning.” Law enforcement, reportedly, acted quickly and arrived within minutes, confronting the teen who had surrendered. 

“He will be charged with murder and prosecuted as an adult,” per the same report. 

Colt Gray is 14 years old and a sophomore at Apalachee High School.

Local sheriff Jud Smith described the attack as “pure evil”.

His motive remains unclear at this time.

According to AP News, Colt Gray was previously involved in a sheriff’s investigation when the FBI had reached out to them in May of 2023 after Gray – who was 13 at the time – made threats to shoot up a middle school on the communication platform Discord. However, the investigation ended with no arrests as there was “inconsistent information”. 

Law Enforcement hasn’t found connections with the victims at this time although they are still looking into it. The victims include Mason Schermerhorn (14), Christian Angulo (14), Christina Irimie (53), and Richard Aspinwall (39). 

Alexandra Romero, a student at Apalachee High School, said she was sitting in class when the warning to “get down” came in. According to reports, she said, “I can just remember my hands were shaking. I felt bad because everybody was crying, [and] everybody was trying to find their siblings.” She recalls the blood and shouting. 

The father of the alleged shooter Colin Gray reportedly gave his son the AR-15 as a gift. He is being charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, 2 counts of second-degree murder, and 8 counts of cruelty to children on “the suspicion of facilitating the shootings by allowing his son to possess a deadly weapon,” according to NBC News. 

There has been a GoFundMe made to help support the victims and the school community.