Teen shooter kills four in Apalachee High School tragedy

“Sorry, Mom.”

Those were the words Colt Gray texted his mother on Wednesday morning before the deadliest school shooting in the US this year at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

This message prompted Marcee Gray to alert her son’s school about an unspecified “extreme emergency” at 9:50 a.m., as shown in call logs and texts exchanged with her sister, shared with CNN. Marcee Gray spoke to a school counselor for about 10 minutes, according to her father, Charles Polhamus.

“I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to immediately find Colt and check on him,” Marcee Gray later texted her sister. “I don’t understand what took them so long.”

4 dead, at least 9 injured in Apalachee High School shooting, 14-year-old suspect arrested. pic.twitter.com/helZ5IecVV

— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) September 4, 2024

“If it weren’t for me, they would never have even known to expect anything,” she added.

The Washington Post first reported the call duration and existence of the texts.

Despite the call, police responded to an active shooting at 10:20 a.m. at the school.

Officials stated the teenager used an assault-style rifle to kill four people—two teachers and two students—before surrendering. Seven others were wounded, and two more suffered other injuries.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told CNN there were no prior warnings of a possible threat. However, details about the mother’s call before the shooting have raised questions about the school’s and law enforcement’s efforts to prevent the attack.

“We believe it was preventable—100 percent,” Lisette Angulo, whose brother Christian was killed, told CNN. “They knew of the situation beforehand and didn’t take proper action to prevent this tragedy.”

Barrow County School System superintendent Dallas LeDuff praised his school faculty and staff for their response in a Monday video statement.

“In an impossible situation, I’m proud of the action our staff took at our school sites—especially Apalachee High School, where our teachers and administrative staff did not flinch, pause, and sprung into action to protect our children and each other,” he said.

He thanked law enforcement and first responders “for standing in the gap on a day we never thought we would have to go through as a community. We will get through this together.”

LeDuff announced additional security staff and mental health support for Tuesday’s return to school and urged anyone not ready to inform their principal.

On Monday, a sheriff’s office spokesperson referred questions to the Barrow County District Attorney’s office. CNN has contacted the district attorney’s office for further comment.

Another warning reached Apalachee High School that morning: An unknown caller said there would be shootings at five schools that Wednesday, with Apalachee being first.

Around 9:45 a.m., during the second period, Colt Gray stepped out of his Algebra 1 class, according to classmate Lyela Sayarath.

Sayarath, who sat next to him, wasn’t surprised to see him leave, noting he often skipped class.

Shortly after Gray left, a friend of Sayarath’s—who has a similar name to Gray—was pulled out of class, along with his backpack, Sayarath said. Upon his return, he told her administrators “were looking for the kid who sits next to you, not me.”

The “kid” was Gray. When he reappeared at the classroom door, another student, Bri Jones, blocked his way.

Jones, taught by her mother to look out the door before opening it, saw Gray pulling out a gun when he knocked. The teacher, unaware, asked for the door to be opened, but Jones stopped her.

“The shooter looked up, saw me, my teacher, and someone in the hall. He turned his head and started shooting,” Jones said.

Apalachee High School has repeatedly declined to comment on whether another student was mistakenly pulled from the classroom in Gray’s place.

“The school failed them; they could have prevented these deaths and didn’t,” Lyela’s mother, Rabecca Sayarath, told the Associated Press.

Cristina Irimie’s 53rd birthday was August 24, but the Apalachee High School math teacher brought cake and pizza to celebrate with her students on Wednesday morning. Family friend Corneliu Caprar told CNN she died protecting them.

“She would spring into action,” relative Gabrielle Buth told CNN. “She died for her children like any good mom would do, like a good teacher would do. She couldn’t have her own, so these were her kids.”

Nearby, sophomore Hazel Biondi was in her geometry class when she heard banging outside. Teacher David Phenix opened the door and was shot.

“The whole class ran to the back, and we realised my teacher got shot. My other teacher tried to stop the bleeding,” Hazel told CNN.

Phenix managed to shut the door before collapsing. “We thought the shooter would come back, so we turned off the lights and got quiet,” she said.

They waited in the dark for law enforcement, while their wounded teacher stayed conscious. “He was still responding, and my other teacher kept asking him to talk,” she said.

Once the threat cleared, students struggled to exit because Phenix lay in front of the door. “We had to walk by his blood,” Hazel said.

Phenix’s daughter posted on Facebook that he was shot in the foot and hip and after surgery asked, “Is everyone else OK?”

Nicole Biondi, Hazel’s mother, praised Phenix. “He saved lives on Wednesday. He saved my baby. He saved my world,” she wrote on Facebook.

Math teacher and assistant football coach Richard Aspinwall heard commotion, investigated, and was shot in the chest. Students tried to help him.

“His students pulled Ricky back and used their own shirts to stop the bleeding,” family friend Julie Woodson told CNN. Aspinwall, a father of two, did not survive.

Fourteen-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both students, were also killed.

Barrow County Sheriff’s Office received notice of the shooting at 10:20 a.m. Just a week earlier, teachers had been issued wearable panic buttons.

By 10:26 a.m., the shooter was apprehended.

When a school resource officer confronted Gray, he surrendered and was taken into custody, officials said.

“I did it,” the shooter allegedly told investigators.

Around noon, Georgia officials informed the public: “GBI has responded to a shooting @ Apalachee H.S. in Barrow Co. One suspect in custody. We urge anyone near the area to stay clear while authorities investigate,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation posted on X.

Two days after the shooting, Colt Gray was arraigned in a Barrow County courtroom on four counts of felony murder. He declined to enter a plea.

After the shooting, the FBI revealed it had received a tip in May 2023 about Gray using Discord to make threats against schools. Jackson County deputies investigated but couldn’t substantiate the information.

An investigator wrote that he contacted Colin Gray, who denied his son Colt had made threats or used Discord in months. When asked if he had an AR-15, Colin Gray responded, “Only hunting rifles.”

Colin Gray later told investigators he bought the AR-style rifle used in the shooting as a holiday present for his son in December 2023. He faces multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder, and declined to enter a plea.