Georgia: 14-Year-Old Arrested After School Shooting Leaves 4 Dead

WINDER: A 14-year-old boy is expected to be charged with murder after a shooting at a Georgia high school left four dead and nine more injured.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the victims included two students and two teachers from Apalachee High School in Winder, Barrow County. Colt Gray, who was described as a student at the school, has been arrested by two officers on campus and will face trial as an adult.

It has since emerged that the FBI had investigated him last year following anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting, but did not apprehend him at the time.

Police were first called to reports of a shooting at the 1,900-pupil school at about 10:20 local time (14:20 GMT).

Local Sheriff Jud Smith described the attack as "pure evil." He said in a news conference, law enforcement arrived within minutes, joined by two school resource officers who quickly confronted the suspect.

The suspect immediately submitted, lay on the ground, and was taken into custody by the officers, according to the sheriff. The officials said they had not identified a motive and were unaware of specific targets then. 

The FBI said the investigators had visited the suspect and his father in May 2023 about the online threats that included pictures of guns.

The father told the FBI that he kept hunting guns in the house, but the suspect did not have unsupervised access to them.

The suspect-a 13-year-old at the time-denied the threats. Officials notified local schools to monitor the suspect, but by that time, there was no probable cause to arrest or take any action by law enforcement at any level.

One of the victims of the shooting on Wednesday was 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, who had autism. His family had shared his picture on social media when they could not find him; later, they confirmed that he did not survive the attack.

Teacher/coach David Phenix was among the wounded, where his foot and hip were shot. His hip bone had been shattered. "He is in stable condition following surgery," a posting on social media says, according to a woman claiming to be his daughter on Facebook.

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