Gun violence leaves 3 towns in the South reeling

A high school. A courthouse. A bustling strip of bars and restaurants.

Gun violence left nine dead and more than two dozen injured in three southern cities in recent weeks, ravaging communities and leaving residents searching for answers and struggling to regain a sense of normalcy.

The shootings – one that left two students and two teachers dead at a Georgia high school; another that authorities believe was a targeted "hit" that killed four in Birmingham, Alabama; and a third that left a Kentucky judge dead in his chambers – all caught their local communities off guard and drew national attention.

On Tuesday, school resumed at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and students filed back into classes where just weeks before they hunkered down, taking cover from a classmate now charged with murder. In Birmingham, life began returning to the neighborhood amid an increased police presence this week.

To college student Mia Kerikas, the entertainment district where the shooting unfolded had been "just a real neat place, no matter what time you’re down here." Then the unthinkable. “It’s so sad," Kerikas told the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network, "that something like this happened to people just wanting to get together and have a good time.”

Birmingham reels after targeted shooting leaves 4 dead

A memorial of flowers, a candle and a stuffed animal mark at the site of the shooting in Birmingham, and along with an elevated law enforcement presence, serve as a tragic reminder of the violence over the weekend.

Four people were killed and 17 were injured, some critically, in a Saturday night shooting on an outdoor crowd in the popular Five Points South district. Birmingham Police Department Public Information Officer Truman Fitzgerald did not provide updates on their conditions when reached by email on Tuesday. The four killed were identified as Anitra Holloman, 21; Tahj Booker, 27; Carlos McCain, 27; and Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26.

Police have said they believe the shooting was a "hit" carried out by multiple suspects who opened fire with a spray of more than 100 bullets Saturday about 11 p.m. after pulling up to the area in a vehicle. Detectives were still working to identify the gunmen on Monday, and Fitzgerald said there was no update on Tuesday.

Police previously said the intended target of the shooting is among the dead. Several victims were innocent bystanders.

Authorities are hoping a $100,000 reward will draw information from the public that leads to answers and arrests.

"We should not be providing any form of safe harbor... to anybody that is comfortable hurting people the way they did this past Saturday," Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said on Tuesday.

The shooting has left the survivors and community shaken. Woodfin said Monday that one victim was out celebrating a recent birthday when the shooting started. The mother of another victim asked for counseling resources for her daughter, the mayor said.

"This type of incident, this mass shooting, has a heavy toll on community as a whole ... nothing more harmful than the emotional and physical pain of these actual victims," he said, adding, "If there ever was a time for us to come together as a community, this is the moment."

One witness to the aftermath, Dajon Singleton, told WBMA-TV over the weekend the scene was chaotic, with people running and screaming while others were taken away on stretchers.

"Very devastating, sad," he said. "The grieving-type screaming. ... That's when I instantly knew someone lost a loved one."

Kentucky sheriff accused of murdering judge awaits court date

A Kentucky county's criminal justice system ground to a halt when its sheriff was accused of shooting to death its lone judge inside his chambers at the courthouse in Whitesburg on Thursday. The shooting left community members stunned, as the two were longtime friends, and a motive has not yet been made public.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines is set to make his first court appearance virtually on Wednesday. Stines faces a first-degree murder charge for the shooting of District Court Judge Kevin Mullins.

Over the weekend, a funeral service for Mullins was held in nearby Jenkins and drew family, friends and hundreds of attendees.

Stines was deposed for several hours on Monday as a defendant in a 2022 lawsuit, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The lawsuit accused a former deputy sheriff of offering a woman "favorable treatment for sexual favors" in Mullins' chambers. Stines himself was not accused of trading sex for favors, and Mullins was not charged or accused by officials of wrongdoing.

Weeks after school shooting, Georgia students head back to class

Classes resumed at Apalachee High School on Tuesday, nearly three weeks after police say a 14-year-old student opened fire, killing two students and two teachers. The school is taking a "phased return" approach, and students will attend half-days of classes "to help them ease back into the routine at a comfortable pace" until Oct. 4, when a fall break will begin. Apalachee will return to its full-day schedule in mid-October.

On Tuesday morning, students entering campus were greeted by the sight of law enforcement cruisers by the school's front entrance, and a school bus with “CHEE STRONG” in its windows, CNN reported.

"As we return to school, you will see an increase in law enforcement presence along with additional counselors, therapy dogs, and other mental health resources to support you," Apalachee Principal Jessica Rehberg and Barrow County School System Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said in a note to the school community.

The "J Hall" where police say Colt Gray carried out his rampage on Sept. 4 will stay blocked off for the rest of the school year, school officials have said, and students with social studies classes there will be temporarily bussed to other campuses until new classroom pods are set up in January.

Gray was charged with murder for the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Ricky Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Eight other students and one teacher were injured. Gray's father, Colin Gray, also faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children.

Students and teachers also reunited on Monday for an open house ahead of classes starting.

"We know it wasn’t easy to take those first steps and we hope students, families, and staff found some comfort together," the note said.

One Apalachee senior, Junior Garcia Ramirez, told the Associated Press the open house helped ease him back in to the school environment. Ramirez was close with Aspinwall, who was also a football coach at the school.

"I don’t want to go back, because it is my last year and things are a little hard on me,” Ramirez said.

Contributing: Christopher Cann and John Bacon, USA TODAY; Marty Roney, The Montgomery Advertiser; Lucas Aulbach and Leo Bertucci, the Louisville Courier Journal