14-year-old in custody after Georgia school shooting kills 2 students, 2 teachers

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed Wednesday during a mass shooting at a Georgia high school, where nine others were injured. A 14-year-old boy, who is accused of bringing an AR-15-style rifle into Apalachee High School in Barrow County and opening fire, was booked into jail Wednesday night.

Authorities identified the four victims during a Wednesday night press conference as 14-year-old student Mason Schermerhorn, 14-year-old student Christian Angulo, teacher Richard Aspinwall and teacher Christina Irimie.

Nine people remain hospitalized, including eight students and one teacher, who are all expected to survive.

"We don't expect any more fatalities at this time," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed.

Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and that "there is no evidence of a list of schools being targeted."

"There is no evidence to support that any additional shooter was involved in this incident today," Hosey said. "We are following up any potential leads through the investigation to ensure if they're any associates involved in this, that we find them."

Officials said earlier that the high school received a phone call Wednesday morning warning that shootings would occur at five schools and indicated that Apalachee would be first. But it is not yet known who placed the call, officials said.

Hosey told reporters that the shooting suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray who is a student, had been interviewed by police last year about online threats.

Gray was questioned by law enforcement after "several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time," according to a joint statement Wednesday from FBI Atlanta and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which interviewed the suspect and his father.

"The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them," the statement said. "The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject. At the time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp , who also attended the evening news briefing, thanked the first responders and offered his condolences.

"This is everybody's worst nightmare," Kemp said. "I just want to offer my sincere condolences and our thoughts and prayers to the families that have lost loved ones, for those who are injured and continuing to fight through just a tragic time."

Gray is expected to make his first court appearance "in a reasonable amount of time," said Hosey, who added that he will be tried for murder as an adult.

Investigators are still trying to determine how Gray got the "AR-platform-style weapon" into the school.

"We're still trying to clarify a lot of the timeline from the time that he got here to school today until the incident," Hosey said.

During the shooting, police officers and two school resource officers confronted Gray, at which time he surrendered. More than a dozen police units across Georgia were sent to aid in the shooting investigation.

Smith got emotional as he expressed his shock at the shooting. He said his own kids attend the school.

"Hate will not prevail in this county," he said. "Love will prevail over what happened today."

Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said district schools will be closed for the remainder of the week. But he said the district's main office will be open and grief counseling will be available "as we grieve through this together."

The day's shooting was called "an evil thing" by Smith during an early afternoon press conference.

"We're in the process of reunifying students with their parents," Smith said earlier. The police official said that the situation was "fluid" and the investigation still "very active" and ever-developing.

The investigation "is going to take multiple days for us to get answers," the sheriff said as he asked for patience from the public and news media. "Please let us get the facts that we need to make sure we get this right."

The Wednesday morning shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, located in Barrow County roughly 50 miles east of the state's capital in Atlanta, saw multiple of law enforcement agencies respond before 10:30 a.m. local time.

This was the 45th school shooting so far this year.

Last year, there was a record high of 83 reported U.S. school shootings.

In a statement , the White House said the administration was "closely coordinating" with all local, state and federal officials.

What should have been "a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Ga.," it read, "has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart."

"After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say 'enough is enough' and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation," according to the statement on behalf of President Joe Biden , who called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, "require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks and end immunity for gun manufacturers."

The Georgia high school was under lockdown until a little before 11:30 a.m., when the site was cleared and students released to families.

At a separate news conference on Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he was "devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy."

"We are still gathering information, but the FBI and ATF are on the scene working with state, local and federal partners," Garland stated. "The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or support that the Winder community needs in the days ahead."

Vice President Kamala Harris , speaking at a campaign rally in New Hampshire, called the shooting a "senseless tragedy" as she expressed her sorrow and called for action to combat U.S. gun violence.

"It's just outrageous that every day in our country, in the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive," the Democratic presidential nominee stated.

Meanwhile, the Republican presidential nominee also expressed his regret over Wednesday's additional school shooting.

"Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, Ga. These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster," former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.

"I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state," Kemp said on X a little before noon.

The high school as of March had an enrollment of slightly more than 1,900 students, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

NewsChopper 2 camera footage showed large crowds of students filtering into the school stadium during the lockdown and scores of emergency vehicles on school property.