Authorities on Wednesday afternoon said the suspect who shot and killed four people and injured nine more at a Georgia high school is a 14-year-old male.
The shooting occurred earlier Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, prompting a lockdown and significant police response. Few details had initially been released about the shooting, the victims, and the suspect.
In a news conference, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey identified the suspect as 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the high school. When law enforcement arrived to confront the suspect, he surrendered immediately, Hosey said.
Gray will be charged as an adult and will face murder counts, he added. It’s not clear whether he has an attorney, and no mug shot has been released to the public.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters at the news conference that a school resource officer confronted the alleged shooter and took him into custody after reports of the shooting were called in.
“Obviously the shooter was armed and our school resource officer engaged him, and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with ... an officer-involved shooting,” the sheriff said. The suspect “gave up, got on the ground, and the deputy took him into custody,” he added.
So far, no motive has been established, and it’s not clear if the suspect was intentionally targeting the victims. The four deceased victims were identified by Hosey as two students and two teachers at the high school, although their names and ages were not released.
Smith said law enforcement has been in contact with the alleged shooter’s family. No details were provided.
“My heart hurts for these kids, my heart hurts for our 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. Love will prevail over what happened today, I assure you of that,” he said, adding that he attended a school in the same school system.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., “officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting,” the sheriff’s office statement said earlier in the day.
Leaders React
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the incident, the White House said in a statement.“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 in a separate statement released by the White House before he called for gun-control measures.
“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.”
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, said: “Our hearts are with all the students, the teachers, and their families.
“This is just a senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies. We have to end this epidemic of gun violence.”
“Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” he wrote on Truth Social.
