Two students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday morning, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie were the two teachers killed in the incident, officials said at a Wednesday night news briefing. They also identified the 14-year-old student victims as Mason Shermerhorn and Christian Angulo.
Another nine victims — eight students and one teacher — were taken to hospitals with injuries following the shooting, the GBI said earlier in the day.
The suspect — 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at Apalachee High School — was encountered by officers within minutes, and he immediately surrendered and was taken into custody, the GBI said. He will be charged with murder and he will be tried as an adult, the GBI said.
It’s not clear if any of the victims were targeted, authorities said.
Students and parents speak out
Senior Sergio Caldera, 17, said he was in chemistry class when he heard gunshots.
“My teacher goes and opens the door to see what’s going on. Another teacher comes running in and tells her to close the door because there’s an active shooter,” Caldera told ABC News.
He said his teacher locked the door and the students ran to the back of the room. Caldera said they heard screams from outside as they “huddled up.”
At some point, Caldera said someone pounded on his classroom door and shouted “open up!” multiple times. When the knocking stopped, Caldera said he heard more gunshots and screams.
He said his class later evacuated to the football field.
Kyson Stancion said he was in class when he heard gunshots and “heard police scream, telling somebody, ‘There’s a shooting going on, get down, get back in the classroom.'”
“I was scared because I’ve never been in a school shooting,” he told ABC News.
“Everybody was crying. My teacher tried to keep everybody safe,” he added.
Dad Jonathan Mills said he experienced an “emotional roller coaster” as he and his wife rushed to the school and waited to get ahold of their son, Jayden.
It was “exhilarating” and “overwhelming” to reach Jayden, a junior, and learn he was OK, Mills told ABC News.
Mills, a police officer, said, “Growing up in this area, you don’t expect things like that to happen.”
“I have three children. All three of them go to this cluster of schools, and you never think about that,” he said.
Winder is about 45 miles outside of Atlanta.
Barrow County Schools will be closed through the end of the week, the superintendent said.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called the shooting “pure evil.”
