4 dead, at least 9 injured in Apalachee High School shooting, 14-year-old suspect arrested: police
At least four people were killed after a gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, on Wednesday. The Barrow County Sheriff's Office said that authorities were dispatched to Winder, Georgia, school at around 10:23 a.m.
A Georgia sheriff called Wednesday's shooting at a high school that left two students and two teachers dead, along with nine others wounded, an act of “pure evil.”
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith addressed reporters hours after a gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School.
“I never imagined that I would be speaking to the media about in my career over something that happened today. The pure evil that happened today,” Smith said. “My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for this community.”
Colt Gray, 14, a student at the high school, was identified as the shooter. A school resource officer was able to get Gray to surrender moments after opening fire, thus saving lives, authorities said.
The teen was then taken into custody.
Investigators were not sure how Gray brought the weapon on campus and how he obtained it. He was interviewed by authorities, Smith said.
Investigators are still trying to determine if anyone was specially targeted but they were not aware of any known connections between Gray and the victims.
Authorities were “looking into every aspect of that individual, his connection here at the school," said Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Barrow County School System will close all its schools for the remainder of the week, said Dallas LeDuff, the county’s superintendent.
LeDuff said the schools will be closed while the district “cooperates fully with law enforcement" and that grief counseling would be available.
Colt Gray, the alleged gunman who opened fire at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, killed four people and injured at least nine Wednesday morning when he began shooting at innocent victims inside the school, police say.
At approximately 10:20 a.m., around two hours after classes at Apalachee had begun, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of an active shooter.
"Within minutes, law enforcement was on scene as well as two school resource officers assigned here to the school," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Gray, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School, will be charged with murder and prosecuted as an adult, according to Smith.
Local law enforcement is coordinating both the investigation and charges with District Attorney Brad Smith of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit.
"The priority right now for us, within this investigation, is to gather all the facts," Smith said. "This is a murder investigation."
Read the full article about the alleged Georgia school shooter by Gabriele Regalbuto
Law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, U.S. September 4, 2024. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage
A vigil will be held Wednesday night to remember the four people killed by a student at a Georgia high school hours earlier.
The city of Winder, an hour from Atlanta, will hold the event at 7 p.m. ET at Jug Tavern Park. The remembrance comes hours after authorities said a 14-year-old teenager shot and killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School.
“The City of Winder will open Jug Tavern Park up to the community tonight at 7 p.m. for a time to be together and grieve for the horrific events that unfolded in Barrow County today,” the city posted on its Facebook page.
Gray surrendered to authorities moments after the shooting, which also wounded nine people.
The identities of the victims have not been disclosed.
A mass shooting at Apalachee High School Wednesday in north central Georgia has left four people dead and nine injured, officials said.
Apalachee High School , located about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, had students and faculty evacuate the building and move to the school's football field, where many students huddled in a prayer circle.
The Apalachee High School football team lost its home opener 49-7 to Cherokee Bluff Aug. 27. The football team is scheduled to return to the field for its fourth game of the year against Monroe Area, but the status of the game is unknown.
Several of the school's football rivals and even a local college expressed support and prayers through social media for the Winder, Georgia, high school in the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting.
Apalachee is off to an 0-3 start to the season in the second year under the leadership of head coach Mike Hannock. The team went winless in Hannock's first season in 2023 and in 2022. The team's last win came in November 2021, a 34-28 victory over Jackson County in the season finale.
Read the full article about the Georgia school shooting by Jackson Thompson
Fox News senior correspondent Jonathan Serrie appeared on "Your World" to provide the latest updates about the Apalachee High School shooting.
During the segment, Serrie presented cellphone video from the scene of the shooting. The footage showed students forming a single-file line to exit the school.
The teenagers and adults were eerily calm in the footage. On Wednesday afternoon, authorities announced that at least four people were killed during the shooting.
People leave Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. AP Photo/Mike Stewart
A school resource officer was able to get the shooter to surrender moments after opening fire, thus saving lives, authorities said.
Colt Gray, 14, killed four people and wounded nine other people at Apalachee High School, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.
“The shooter was armed and our school resource officer engaged him,” said Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. “The shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, it would end with an OIS (officer-involved shooting).”
Gray surrendered and got on the ground and he was taken into custody. .
Authorities are not sure how Gray brought the weapon on campus and how he obtained it. Gray was interviewed by investigators, Smith said. Investigators are still trying to determine if anyone was targeted.
An ambulance departs Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The gunman who shot and killed two student and two teachers at a Georgia high school is being charged with murder, authorities said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the shooter who opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder as 14-year-old Colt Gray.
Gray attended the school and was taken into custody, the GBI said. A motive has not been determined.
People leave Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) released a statement about the Apalachee High School shooting on X Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement, the Louisiana Republican condemned the mass shooting, calling it a "terrible tragedy."
"Our prayers go out today for the Apalachee High School community, and especially the victims and their families who have endured this terrible tragedy," Johnson said.
"The officers of the Winder Police Department are commended for their quick action in apprehending the suspect," the congressman added. "May justice here be swift."
Parents walk their child out of Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Former President Trump addressed the Apalachee High School shooting in a social media post on Wednesday, using his platform to express his condolences to the Winder, Georgia, community.
On Truth Social, the Republican presidential nominee called the shooting, which killed at least four people and left at least nine wounded, "tragic."
"Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA," Trump wrote.
"These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster," he added.
Gwendlyn Cook, a grandmother of three children at Apalachee High School, was interviewed by Fox News hosts John Roberts and Sandra Smith in the wake of the deadly school shooting on Wednesday.
Cook described the chaos she witnessed after a gunman opened fire and killed at least four people.
"When I arrived on the scene, I just seen a lot of, parents really panicking," Cook explained. "They was running. They were crying. They were screaming because, you know, stuff like that don't happen in this area. So it was very different for a lot of us."
The grandmother added that her oldest grandaughter texted her to say there was a "serious lockdown."
"She said, 'We just heard a gunshot right outside of our classroom,'" Cook explained. "So their teacher went and locked the door, and they were screaming and hollering and crying and everything in the classroom. And she told me that she went and hid went behind the teacher's desk."
"But the kids were like all over the place in the classroom," the Georgia resident added. "But I do think the teachers were actually locking the door."
A law enforcement officer works near the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, U.S. September 4, 2024. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage)
Georgia authorities have not released the identities of the deceased and wounded victims of the Apalachee High School shooting, but one woman came forward to say her father was shot.
In a public Facebook post on Wednesday, a woman named Katie Phenix explained that her father David Phenix had been shot at the school.
"We are so thankful for all the texts, calls, and messages about my dad, David Phenix," the daughter wrote. "There was a shooting this morning at Apalachee High School and my dad was shot in the foot and in the hip, shattering his hip bone."
"He arrived to the hospital alert and awake. He just got out of surgery and is stable," she added. "We will update as we hear new information. We are so, so lucky, but please keep our family as well as the AHS family in your prayers."
Law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, U.S. September 4, 2024. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage)
President Biden issued a statement following the shooting at a Georgia high school that left four people dead and many others wounded, while condemning gun violence.
"Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed," Biden said in a statement.
"What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into 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 continued.
Read the full article about President Biden by Stepheny Price
Vice President Kamala Harris called Wednesday's shooting that left four people dead at a Georgia high school a “senseless tragedy" that needs to stop.
The Democratic presidential nominee was speaking in New Hampshire when she called for action to address gun violence.
“It’s just outrageous that every day in our country, in the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive,” she said.
She added that “it doesn’t have to be this way.”
She said last year she traveled the country and met with students at trade schools and colleges. She asked if they had to participate in an active shooter drill.
“Every time the auditorium was packed, and almost every hand went up,” she said.
Text messages from a student to his mom say there 'was a shooting and someone is dead''. (Erin Clark / TMX)
Text messages from a student to his mother reveal the horror happening inside a Georgia high school where authorities have confirmed four are dead and many others wounded after a shooting.
"School shooting rn. i'm scared. pls, i'm not joking," the text messages posted by Erin Clark read
.The mother then responds to her son and says she is leaving work.
"i love you," the student tells his mom.
She says it back and asks where he is.
"class. someone's dead," the student responds.
Read the full article about the Georgia school shooting by Stepheny Price
Students are evacuated to the football stadium after the school campus was placed on lockdown at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (WSB via AP)
At least four people are dead Wednesday after a shooting at a high school in north central Georgia put the building on lockdown, authorities said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed that four people died at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia — approximately 40 miles northeast of Atlanta – and nine others were taken to various hospitals with injuries. The suspect is alive and in custody.
"At approximately 10:23 a.m. officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting," the Barrow County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Read the full article about Apalachee High School by Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Stephen Sorace
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