Apalachee ‘shooter’ Colt Gray, 14, seen in mugshot after ‘killing four and wounding 9’ in high school massacre
COLT Gray, the suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting that left four people dead and nine more wounded, has been pictured for the first time in a mug shot.
The 14-year-old alleged gunman is seen staring blankly in the image released by the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.
The suspect has been charged with murder and will be tried as an adult after allegedly opening fire at his school in Barrow County, Georgia, which is about an hour east of Atlanta.
His mug shot shows him with bleached hair in a striped prison uniform staring blankly at the camera.
The shooting at 10:20 am on Wednesday killed two students and two teachers.
Nine others were hospitalized with injuries and are expected to recover.
Officials named Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, as the victims of the shooting.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that the shooter used an AR-15 style gun.
What we know so far…
- Four people are dead, and nine others were injured, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations confirmed.
- Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie were identified as those killed.
- 14-year-old student Colt Gray was named as the suspected shooter.
- Gray was reportedly interviewed by the FBI a year before after authorities received online threats of a possible school shooting.
- Students gathered on the football field after the attack.
- President Biden and Vice President Harris have been briefed.
- Devastating texts revealed student’s fear.
Meanwhile, Barrow County Sherriff Jud Smith said Gray “gave up and got on the ground” when reportedly faced with the prospect of exchanging gunfire with cops.
He is said to be cooperating with officials as they investigate the incident and attempt to identify a motive.
It was revealed on Wednesday that the teen was known to the FBI a year before the shooting and that his father kept hunting guns in the house.
The FBI interviewed Gray and his father, Colin Gray, in May 2023 after the bureau received “several anonymous tips” regarding threats made on Discord, an online platform, to commit a school shooting.
However, the teen insisted at the time that he hadn’t made the threats and that he was hacked on Discord.
“The online threats contained photographs of guns,” a statement from the FBI Atlanta and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office read.
Timeline of Apalachee High School shooting
Below is a timeline of the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4:
8:30 am – First period begins at AHS
9:45 am – Suspect Colt Gray leaves algebra class, according to his classmate
10:20 am – Police start to receive calls about an active shooter
10:23 am – Law enforcement officers are dispatched to school and arrive in minutes
10:45 am – AHS sends message to parents saying the school is in a hard lockdown
11:20 am – Students are evacuated to the football field
11:56 am – Barrow County Sheriff’s Office reports a suspect is in custody
2:13 pm – Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirms four people were killed and nine were hospitalized with injuries
When Gray’s father was interviewed, he revealed that he had firearms in the house but claimed that his son “did not have unsupervised access to them.”
At the time, Gray, who was 13, denied having anything to do with the online threats but was still highlighted by the sheriff’s office as a possible suspect.
However, there was “no probable cause for arrest,” and instead officials remained on alert for possible school shootings and “continued monitoring” the teenager, the FBI said.
It is unclear when or whether officials stopped monitoring Gray over the past 15 months.
DESPERATE STUDENTS
A classmate of Gray revealed how a fellow student blocked him from re-entering their classroom after they allegedly noticed he was armed.
Lyela Sayarath was sitting next to Gray in Algebra class just moments before the shooting took place.
Speaking to CNN, she explained how the “quiet and shy” teenager left the classroom around 9:45 am and that there were no signs anything was wrong.
She had assumed he was skipping the class when he did not take a bathroom pass with him.
However, when he returned about half an hour later, a fellow student allegedly went to let him in as the door had automatically locked but “backed away” after noticing he had a gun.
This is when he allegedly turned on students and teachers in adjoining classrooms, Sayarath said.
“I guess he saw we weren’t going to let him in,” she told the news outlet.
I was crying, I didn’t want to die that way.
Camille Nelms
Gray then allegedly entered the room next door and fired up to 15 rounds as Sayareth and her class hid behind desks.
“He turned to the classroom that would have been to my right, and he just starts to shoot, and you hear about 10 to 15 rounds back-to-back,” she said.
The teenager’s friend who was in the other classroom saw someone get shot and was covered in blood and “pretty shaken up,” Sayareth added.
Camille Nelms who was inside the targeted classroom explained how everyone tried to gather in the corner as bullets flew into the room.
“I was crying, I didn’t want to die that way,” she told NBC affiliate WXIA.
“I don’t want to meet the Lord that way.”
Meanwhile, another student spoke about how she had heard screaming and initially thought people were messing around before it continued and she “told everybody to get down.”
In the chaos of the shooting, students and teachers flooded the school’s football stadium after being evacuated.
During this time, the family of Schermerhorn, the first victim identified by cops, were desperately searching for the teenager who had autism.
They took to social media asking people to keep an eye out for him and what steps they should take given his condition in order to reassure him and keep him safe.
“If he is escalated, PLEASE use a calm voice with him,” family members wrote on social media.
“Let him know his mom is looking for him for reassurance.”
HERO TEACHER
Maths teacher Aspinwall who was also a defensive coordinator and football coach for the school had desperately tried to protect his students when he was gunned down, according to reports.
The 39-year-old was gunned down in the doorway to his classroom, according to Sports Illustrated.
He had reportedly been trying to get students to safety when he was killed.
Tributes have been paid to the beloved football coach.
“It’s no shock he died protecting the students at Apalachee. Praying so hard for his family and everyone who knew him,” a former student of Aspinwall’s wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Brandon Gill, the football coach of nearby Buford High School, called Aspinwall a “helluva human being” in a post on social media.
He “would do anything for anyone” and was an “amazing husband, father, teacher, and coach”, Gill said.
David Phenix, a special education teacher at the school was also shot on Wednesday and was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery for a “shattered hip and foot,” his daughter Katie revealed.
She detailed that her father was hit twice by bullets during the attack but is now in stable condition.
Katie also revealed her father’s first heartbreaking words after waking up from surgery in the ICU.
Despite being “in a lot of pain” and having “a very long road ahead,” the teacher’s first words were about his students and colleagues.
“Some of the first words out of his mouth were, “Is everyone else okay?” Katie wrote in an update.
“I think that speaks volumes to the type of man he is— always putting others first, no matter his personal situation.”
Out of the nine injured in the attack, three were treated for gunshot wounds and the others had suffered from panic or anxiety attacks.
OFFICIALS RESPOND
“This is everybody’s worst nightmare and I just want to offer my sincere condolences and our thoughts and prayers to the families that have lost loved ones, for those that are injured and continuing to fight through just a tragic time,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said at a press conference.
“Pure evil happened today,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith added.
He said that his “heart hurts for these kids” and “hate will not prevail in this county”.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have called for unity on the epidemic of gun violence.
“This is one of the many issues at stake in this election,” president hopeful Harris said while at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
She called it “outrageous” that parents “have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive”.
Her rival former President Donald Trump also took to social media to comment on the violence.
“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” he wrote.
“These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Biden's statement on the shooting
President Joe Biden has released a statement about the shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday morning.
“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.
“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.
“We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life,” he continued.
“Ending this gun violence epidemic is personal to me. It’s why I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most meaningful gun safety bill in decades – and have announced dozens of gun safety executive actions.
“I also established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. We’ve made significant progress, but this crisis requires even more.
“After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation.
“We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers.
“These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart.”
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