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Winder, GA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Two teachers are dead after a 14-year-old student opened fire in a Georgia high school Wednesday.
Two students were also killed and another nine people were injured in the Wednesday morning event at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga.
Officials identified the dead as Richard Aspinwall, a math teacher and the defensive coordinator for the school’s football team, and Christina Irimie, another math teacher. Also killed were students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey, Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, surrendered to authorities after law enforcement approached him. Hosey said Gray will be charged as an adult.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said the shooting was “pure evil.”
"My heart hurts for these kids," he said. "My heart hurts for our community. But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. ... Love will prevail over what happened today."
Apalachee High School administrators said the school went into lockdown about 10:20 a.m. after reports of gunfire. Witnesses said Gray left his Algebra 1 class near the beginning of the class. When Gray returned near the end of class, he knocked to get back into the locked classroom. Witnesses said one of the students inside the classroom went to open the locked door but saw the gun and refused to open it.
Instead the shooter went to the next classroom, with an opened door, and started firing. Students told news outlets they piled into corners and huddled behind desks to get away from the shooter.
Law enforcement officers arrived shortly after the first reports of the shooting, and assisted the two school resource officers assigned to the school. The resource officers confronted the shooter who “immediately surrendered to these officers.”
Barrow County School Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said the school system would be closed for the remainder of the week, but that the administration office will remain open and that grief counseling would be available.
One of the injured was identified as special education math teacher David Phenix. Witnesses
“We are so thankful for all the texts, calls, and messages about my dad, David Phenix. 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,” his daughter Katie wrote in a Facebook update about her dad’s condition. “He arrived to the hospital alert and awake. He just got out of surgery and is stable. 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.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp offered up prayers of support for the victims.
"I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state," Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp posted on X. "We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation."
School officials said the school received a phone call Wednesday morning warning about the shootings, and that there would be shootings at five schools. Apalachee, the caller said, would be the first.
Gray was previously investigated for threats about a shooting, the FBI said. In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about threats to commit a school shooting. The threats were tracked to Georgia and to Jackson County, where sheriff’s deputies continued the investigation. Gray, then 13, was interviewed along with his father, an FBI spokesperson said.
“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the suspect did not have unsupervised access to them,” the spokesman said in a statement. “The subject denied making the threats online.”
Following the investigation, local schools were put on alert, and Gray was monitored, officials said.
“At the time, there was no cause for arrest or to take any additional action on the local, state or federal levels,” the FBI said.
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About The Author
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Liz Carey
Liz Carey has worked as a writer, reporter and editor for nearly 25 years. First, as an investigative reporter for Gannett and later as the Vice President of a local Chamber of Commerce, Carey has covered everything from local government to the statehouse to the aerospace industry. Her work as a reporter, as well as her work in the community, have led her to become an advocate for the working poor, as well as the small business owner.
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