Teen kills 4 in Georgia high school shooting

Girl and mother stand outside Georgia's Apalachee High School after school shooting — This was the 24th school shooting of 2024

(Image credit: Christian Monterrosa / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

A student shot and killed two classmates and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, yesterday. The 14-year-old suspect, who surrendered when confronted by police, used an "AR-platform-style weapon" in the shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. Nine other people sustained non-fatal injuries.

Who said what

The GBI identified the victims as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday night that the suspected shooter, Colt Grey, and his father had been questioned by local law enforcement in May 2023 in connection with "tips about online threats to commit a school shooting," but "at that time, there was no probable cause for arrest" or other "law enforcement action."

Winder, a growing exurb about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, "now enters the annals of American communities forever scarred by mass gun violence," including Uvalde, Texas; Newtown, Connecticut; and Parkland, Florida, The Washington Post said. "In interviews Wednesday, students did not appear to be terribly surprised that the bloodshed had visited their campus." This was the 24th school shooting of 2024 and the first of the 2024-25 academic year, according to the Post. "Georgia's gun laws," the Post said, are considered "among the nation's weakest."

What next?

Gray will be charged with murder and tried as an adult, the GBI said. Authorities did not say where or how the teen obtained the AR-15-style rifle, a common weapon in school shootings. All Barrow County public schools will be closed for the rest of the week.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.