THE suspected teenage gunman who stormed a high school, killing four and injuring nine, has been named.
Colt Gray, 14, surrendered to deputies with the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office after they descended on Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, about 29 miles west of Athens, on Wednesday.
What we know so far…
After around 9 am, horrified students learned of an active shooting in their Winder school and made desperate efforts to block their classrooms.
By 10:30 am, agencies across the city raced to the scene, and anxious parents followed closely behind.
Aerial footage showed hundreds of students being escorted out of the massive school and onto the nearby football stadium bleachers.
Emotional parents were already standing outside, waiting to hug their children and check whether they were safe.
Pure evil happened today.
Barrow County Sheriff Judd Smith.
Barrow County Sheriff Judd Smith said Colt Gray quickly surrendered to deputies when he realized the situation was going to escalate into a gunfire exchange with officers.
“I never imagined I would be speaking to the media in my career over something that happened today,” an emotional Smith said.
“Pure evil happened today. This hits home for me. I was born and raised here. I went to school in this school system.
“My kids go to this school system. I am proud of this school system. My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for this community.
“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. Law will prevail over what happened today.”
In an early press conference, Smith described the shooting as a “fluid scene” and said it would take several days to piece together what happened.
However, he did say, “What you see behind us is an evil thing.”
Smith said Gray was cooperating with investigators, but no motive has been established.
“I don’t know why it happened. I may not ever know. We may not ever know. But I ask that you and our community lift up our schools, lift up our public safety,” the sheriff added.
Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, said two students and two teachers were among those killed in the shooting.
Their names and ages were not immediately revealed.
The nine injured all suffered various injures, Hosey added.
Hosey said Gray will be charged with murder and treated as an adult.
A woman named Katie Phenix came forward online to say that her father, a coach and special education teacher, David Phenix, was one of the victims.
Phenix is in stable condition, but his daughter said he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
Phenix was shot in the foot and his hip was completely shattered by gunfire, Katie said.
“We are so thankful for all the texts, calls, and messages about my dad, David Phenix,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We will update as we hear new information. We are so, so lucky, but please keep our family as well as the AHS family in your prayers.”
One mom, Erin Clark, revealed texts sent by her teenage son after the shooting and exclusively told The U.S. Sun that he heard eight or nine shots.
Her son, Ethan, told his mom he was “scared” and “not joking” at the time before his mom soberly responded, “I love you.”
“Someone’s dead,” Ethan wrote in the raw conversation after Erin said she was leaving work to get him.
Ethan said he and another classmate bravely worked to barricade their classroom door with chairs to stop the shooter.
Another student, Sergio Caldera, 17, described the moment he learned about the shooting.
“My teacher goes and opens the door to see what’s going on,” he told ABC News.
“Another teacher comes running in and tells her to close the door because there’s an active shooter.”
Students ran to the back of the classroom, and the teachers locked the door.
Moments later, Caldera said someone banged on the door and yelled, “Open up.”
After the knocking stopped, Caldera said he heard gunshots and screams.
Government officials have started to speak out against the horror.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said he directed “all available state resources” to respond to the school.
“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” he said in a statement.
At a rally, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out against the violence to her supporters.
“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 presidential nominee said.
“We’ve got to stop it. It does not have to be this way.”
President Joe Biden has released a statement about the shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday morning.
“Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed,” Biden said.
“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart.
“Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.
“We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life,” he continued.
“Ending this gun violence epidemic is personal to me. It’s why I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most meaningful gun safety bill in decades – and have announced dozens of gun safety executive actions.
“I also established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. We’ve made significant progress, but this crisis requires even more.
“After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation.
“We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers.
“These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart.”
