A 14-year-old student has been arrested after allegedly opening fire at a high school in Georgia in the United States, killing four people, including two students and two teachers.
The tragic incident unfolded on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, about an hour away from Atlanta, leaving the community in shock.
The victims have been identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old, along with teachers Richard Aspenwall and Christina Irimie, as announced by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey during a press briefing.
The chaos sent students scrambling for cover in classrooms, while others fled to the football stadium as law enforcement rushed to secure the area. Several students and a teacher were injured, but they are expected to recover, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. Nine individuals in total were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Inside the school, students experienced terrifying moments. Junior Layla Ferrell described how the words “hard lockdown” appeared on her health class screen as lights began flashing, prompting her classmates to barricade the door with desks and chairs.
Similarly, sophomore Kaylee Abner, in her geometry class, heard the gunshots and joined her classmates in seeking refuge behind their teacher’s desk. She recalled holding a classmate’s hand as they waited in fear.
After the students gathered in the football stadium, Abner witnessed teachers using their shirts to tend to the wounded.
Two school resource officers were able to confront the shooter shortly after the attack began, and the suspect, a student at the school, surrendered without further violence. Authorities confirmed the teen used an assault-style rifle and is being charged as an adult with murder. Officials are investigating how the suspect obtained the weapon and managed to bring it into the school.
This incident follows a prior FBI investigation in 2023 when anonymous tips warned of online threats by the teen regarding a potential school shooting.
The local sheriff’s department interviewed the suspect and his father, who denied the teen had access to firearms unsupervised.
At the time, authorities did not have probable cause to pursue an arrest but had alerted local schools to monitor the situation.
As the investigation continues, the community is left grappling with the devastating impact of this tragedy.
At a press conference, a visibly emotional Sheriff Smith, a local who has children in the school system, stated, “My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community.” He further emphasized that “love will prevail” despite the horrors of the day.
This shooting added to the grim tally of school shootings in the U.S., which have sparked heated debates over gun control but have done little to change federal legislation.
The tragedy at Apalachee High School is one of many mass killings that have taken place in the U.S. in 2024, which had already seen 29 incidents claiming at least 127 lives.
Survivors of the attack shared their harrowing experiences. Eleventh-grader Landon Culver, who was outside his algebra class when the shooting began, saw the suspect wearing a hoodie and carrying a long gun.
He quickly ran back to his classroom, locked the door, and huddled with his classmates in the dark as shots echoed through the halls.
Reflecting on the moment, he said, “You’re just wondering like, which one of those is going to be somebody that you’re best friends with or somebody that you love?”
Parents frantically raced to the school, desperate for news about their children. Erin Clark, whose son Ethan texted her about the active shooter, hurried from her job and eventually found him safe on the school’s football field.
Ethan had helped barricade his classroom door. Clark expressed her relief and fear, saying, “It makes me scared to send him back.”
The tragedy has shaken the community to its core. Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the ongoing violence in schools, saying, “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.”
Former President Donald Trump also weighed in, describing the shooter as a “sick and deranged monster.”
In response to the shooting, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp canceled a scheduled speech and returned to the state, issuing a statement of grief.
“This is a day every parent dreads,” he said, adding that all Georgians would “hug their children tighter this evening.”
The community gathered for a vigil at Jug Tavern Park in Winder, with hundreds in attendance, including members of the school’s crosstown rival, Winder-Barrow High School.
As prayers were offered and balloons released in the school’s colours, sophomore Shantal Sanvee, who had been near the gunfire, reflected on the trauma, saying, “I don’t think I want to be here for like a long time now.”
