'I cried like a baby': Georgia town mourns after 4 killed in school shooting

WINDER Ga. − Authorities were working Thursday to solve the tragic mystery of why and how a 14-year-old boy previously linked to violent threats opened fire in his high school, killing two teachers and two students and plunging this rural town into anguish and mourning.

Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were fatally shot Wednesday at Apalachee High School. Eight other students and one teacher were wounded.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said the gunman, armed with an "an AR-platform style weapon" began shooting around 10:20 a.m. Smith said the shooter, identified as Colt Gray, was quickly confronted by deputies assigned to the school and that the suspect immediately surrendered.

Gray was speaking with investigators, who were trying to determine what motivated the rampage Smith described as "pure evil." The FBI said tips about online threats made last year involving then-13-year-old Gray were forwarded to authorities in neighboring Jackson County, but it was determined there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest.

Katherine Hooper has lived a few minutes away from the school since it was built. Despite no longer having school-age children, she donates supplies books, paper and pens to the school every year. And she was stunned at the news that a recurring national nightmare had come to her small Georgia town.

"I cried like a baby," Hooper said Thursday. "Everyone says, 'that never happens in my neighborhood,' but we said it and we actually meant it."

How the shooting unfolded:Complete timeline of events

Developments:

∎ Gray was brought to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville overnight, Glenn Allen, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice told USA TODAY. Gray, who will appear before a judge virtually at 8:30 a.m. Friday, will be charged and tried as an adult, said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

∎The shooting was the first planned attack at a school this fall, said David Riedman, who runs the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Mass killing database:See trends and details of every US event since 2006

'Great' dad. 'Caring' brother:Families mourn Georgia high school shooting victims.

Student saw Gray try to re-enter class before shooting

Classmate Lyela Sayarath told the Associated Press the teen turned the gun on students in a hallway at the school when classmates refused to open the door for him to return to his algebra classroom. Sayarath, who described Gray as a quiet student who recently transferred, said she was watching Gray through a window in the door.

She said some students went to open the locked door, but then backed away.

“I’m guessing they saw something,” Sayarath said. Then she heard the shots "about 10 or 15 of them at once, back-to-back.”

Marques Coleman, 14, told CBS he saw the attacker holding a "big gun" moments before shots rang out.

"I got up, I started running, he started shooting like, like 10 times," Coleman said. "My teacher started barricading the door with desks." 

Kyson Stancion told ABC News he was in class when he heard gunshots and heard police scream to kids in the hallway that "there's a shooting going on, get down, get back in the classroom."

"Everybody was crying," he said. "My teacher tried to keep everybody safe."

FBI received tips about online threats:Tips involved suspected Georgia school shooter

FBI interviewed Colt Gray about threats last year

The FBI received tips about online threats last year involving then-13-year-old Gray, the suspect in Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School, the bureau 's Atlanta office said Wednesday. In May of 2023, the FBI's National Threat Operations Center obtained anonymous tips about threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location, federal agents said in a social media post. The threats, which contained images of guns, were traced to Jackson County, Georgia, and the FBI notified the Jackson County Sheriff's office.

Authorities interviewed Gray and his father, who said that he had hunting guns in the house but Gray did not have access to them. Colt Gray also denied making the online threats. There was no probable cause at the time for an arrest or additional law enforcement action, the post said. Jackson County passed on information to local schools, but Gray was a student at Apalachee High School in neighboring Barrow County when the shooting took place. Read more here.

Colt Gray, 14, identified as suspect:What we know about Apalachee High School shooting suspect

Families, loved ones mourn 4 who died

Friends of Angulo described him as a free spirit with a "chill" attitude. His older sister, Lisette, remembered Angulo as "very sweet and so caring," according to a GoFundMe page for Angulo's funeral services.

"He was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected," Lisette Angulo wrote. "We are truly heartbroken."

Those who knew Schermerhorn described him as a lighthearted teenager who spent time with his family, reading, telling jokes, playing video games and visiting Walt Disney World, The New York Times reported.

Aspinwall, in addition to teaching math, was the school football team's defensive coordinator. Head coach Mike Hancock described him as a "great dad, man, and a great father."

"He loved his two girls and he loved his wife," Hancock said of Aspinwall. "He did happen to love the game of football and he was well respected around this area."

Students described Irimie as patient and caring. The Atlanta Constitution-Journal, citing her pastor and friends, wrote that Irimie loved her Romanian heritage and was dedicated to her roots. Pastor Nicolae Clempus told the paper he met Irimie shortly after moving to the U.S. in 2001. Irimie, he said, had immigrated from Romania a few years earlier, was active in the expat community and made him feel welcome.

Georgia school shooting is 23rd in 2024

More than 20 schools across the nation have been impacted by gun violence since the start of 2024. The school shooting at Apalachee High School was the 23rd time this year this year a school shooting has resulted in injuries or deaths, according to data compiled by Education Week, a news organization that covers K-12 education. Education Week is just one of multiple organizations that compiles data about gun violence in schools, but they only track incidents that fulfill a certain criteria. The 22 school shootings prior to Wednesday's in Georgia have resulted in seven deaths and 29 injuries, according to Education Week's tally.

There have been more than 200 school shootings since Education Week began to track school shootings in 2018.

− Amaris Encinas

Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Ryne Dennis, USA TODAY; Reuters