The 14-year-old boy suspected of killing two teachers and two students in a school shooting in the US state of Georgia had previously been questioned by the FBI.
Wednesday’s attack left four people dead at Apalachee High School in Winder and nine people were taken to hospitals with injuries, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said on X.
Authorities identified the suspect as Colt Gray, a college student the FBI questioned last year after receiving several anonymous tips that threats had been posted on an online gaming site warning of a school shooting at “an unidentified location and time.”
The threats, which included photos of firearms, prompted authorities to go to Gray’s home, where his father told investigators he owned hunting weapons but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them. The suspect denied making the threats.
Jackson County authorities alerted local schools “for continued monitoring of the subject” after the threats were made, though it was unclear whether that included Apalachee High School, where the suspect was a student.
Authorities identified two 14-year-old students and two teachers as victims of the attack, including Mason Schermerhorn, who suffered from autism, according to his family. Other victims include student Christian Angulo and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irmie, 53.
The shooter opened fire around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, just weeks after the start of the school year in the United States. It was the first “planned” shooting of the school year so far, according to David Riedman, who runs the K-12 school shooting database.
“What we see behind us today is an evil thing,” Sheriff Jud Smith of the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said during a brief news conference on school grounds.
The students were released at noon after the incident was deemed under control, a Barrow County Schools spokesman said.
A student who was released unharmed after the incident revealed that she had sat next to the suspect in class minutes before he began his shooting spree.
Lyela Sayarath said the 14-year-old showed no signs he was going to commit the murder as the pair sat together in algebra and that when he left, she simply assumed he was missing class again.
“He never really spoke, he wasn’t in school most of the time, he just skipped class,” she told CNN. “Even when he spoke, he would give one-word answers.”
The suspect reportedly excused himself from class about 30 minutes before active shooter alerts sounded and students were told to check their emails.
Gray then reappeared at the classroom door. Unaware of the danger he posed, a student went to open the door to let Gray in before jumping back after seeing a gun.
“I guess he saw that we weren’t going to let him in. And I guess the door to the classroom next to me was open, so I think he started shooting into the classroom,” she said.
A text message exchange between a student and his parents highlighted the panic at the school as local television stations broadcast images of parents queuing in cars on a road outside, hoping to find their children.
The school, which had nearly 1,900 students last year, started classes on August 1.
Sheriff Smith said the first call law enforcement received about the shooting came around 9:30 a.m., about an hour after school began for the day.
CNN, citing unnamed sources, reported that the school received a phone call warning of the shooting before it happened.
The school district said it had no comment on whether such a call had been received.
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ABC News cited one witness, student Sergio Caldera, who said he was in chemistry class when he heard gunshots.
The 17-year-old student told ABC that her teacher opened the door and another teacher ran to tell her to close the door “because there was an active shooter.”
As students and teachers gathered in the classroom, someone knocked on the door and yelled repeatedly for it to be opened.
When the shooting stopped, Sergio heard more gunshots and screams. He said his class was then evacuated to the school’s soccer field.
Live aerial footage showed several ambulances outside the high school.
CNN reported seeing a patient being loaded onto a medical helicopter that landed at the school.
“Multiple law enforcement and fire/EMS agencies were dispatched to the high school following a reported shooting in progress,” the sheriff’s office said.
The FBI’s Atlanta office dispatched agents to the high school to support local law enforcement, said Jenna Sellitto, a spokeswoman for the office.
The agency later released a statement revealing that it had investigated online threats to commit a school shooting in 2023 and had interviewed a 13-year-old subject and his father in neighboring Jackson County.
“The father stated that he had hunting firearms in the home, but that the suspect did not have unsupervised access to them. The suspect denied making any threats online. Jackson County has alerted local schools to continue monitoring the suspect,” the FBI said, adding that there was no probable cause to make an arrest.
Schermerhorn, one of the students killed in Wednesday’s attack, had just started school, according to family friends. He was described as a “young man” who enjoyed reading, playing video games and visiting Disney World.
“He really loved life,” Doug Kilburn told The New York Times. “He always had an optimistic attitude about everything.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Angulo, the second student killed in the attack. In a tribute posted by his sister, he is described as a “very good boy,” “very kind and very caring.”
“He was so loved by so many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected,” she said. “We are truly heartbroken. He truly did not deserve this.”
In high school, Mrs. Irimie and Mr. Aspinwall were both math teachers. Mr. Aspinwall was also the defensive coordinator for the football team.
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting “and his administration will continue to coordinate with federal, state and local officials as we receive more information.”
Residents of Winder, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, gathered in a park for a prayer vigil Wednesday night.
Some leaned on each other or bowed their heads in prayer, while others lit candles.
“We all suffer. Because when something affects one of us, it affects all of us,” said Power Evans, a city councilor who addressed the gathering.
“I know tonight we’re all going to come together. We’re going to love one another… We’re all family. We’re all neighbors.”
In a statement, Mr Biden said: “Jill and I mourn the loss of those whose lives have been cut short by further senseless gun violence and think of all the survivors whose lives have been forever changed.”
He called on Republicans to work with Democrats to pass “common-sense gun safety legislation.”
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris called the shooting a “senseless tragedy.”
At the start of a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Harris said: “We have to end this epidemic of gun violence.”
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Donald Trump, former president and Republican presidential candidate this year, wrote on social media: “Our hearts go out to the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, Georgia. These precious children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
The United States has seen hundreds of school and college shootings over the past two decades, the deadliest of which left more than 30 people dead at Virginia Tech in 2007.
This has intensified the heated debate over gun laws and the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which enshrines the right “to keep and bear arms.”
