14-Yr-Old Arrested For Killing 4 In Latest US School Shooting. FBI Was Alerted About Suspect In 2023
Colt Gray, who studied at the school, was arrested on campus. He will be charged as an adult, according to a BBC report.
A minor who fatally shot four people and injured nine at a high school in Georgia, United States, on Wednesday will be charged with murder. Colt Gray, who studied at the school, was arrested on campus. He will be charged as an adult, according to a BBC report. This comes after May 2023, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed Gray after receiving an anonymous tip about a threatening message written online to commit an unspecified school shooting. But he was not arrested at the time. Colt, who was then 13 years old, had denied making the online threat but officials "alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject", BBC reported.
According to Reuters, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said deputies quickly responded after the sheriff's department got word about an active shooter around 10:20 am. The school was placed on lockdown and cleared, and all students were taken to a nearby football stadium before they were released to their families, BBC reported.
Gray was confronted by a deputy in the school and he immediately got on the ground and surrendered. According to the BBC report, authorities said no motive was identified and law enforcement said they did not know of “any targets at this point".
The deceased were identified as two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School — 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie.
On Wednesday morning, the high school received a phone threat, several law enforcement officials told CNN. The caller warned that there would be shootings at five schools, and that Apalachee would be the first. It is not known who placed the call.
The suspect was interviewed and spoke with investigators once in custody, Sheriff Smith said. He said it would take multiple days to get answers on the motive.
Lyela Sayarath, who was in the suspect’s class, told CNN that he left the room at the beginning of their algebra lesson. When he returned, a student did not let him in after he noticed Gray had a gun. Sayarath told CNN the attacker then went to the classroom next door, where he began shooting.
The weapon used in the mass shooting was an “AR platform-style weapon", police said during a news conference, according to CNN.
According to a CNN report, the US has suffered at least 385 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day. The classroom kills have sparked debates about gun control and the heightened anxiety of parents whose children are becoming accustomed to active shooter drills in classrooms.
During a news conference, Smith choked up as he began to speak. He said he was born and raised in the community, and his kids are in the school system. “My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community,” he said. “But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Love will prevail over what happened today,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
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