During a press conference Wednesday evening, Chris Rosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, confirmed to reporters that four people were killed during the school shooting at Apalachee High School earlier Wednesday. Two were students and two were teachers at the school, Rosey said. Nine others have been hospitalized with injuries.
Rosey also confirmed that the suspect is a 14-year-old Apalachee student named Colt Gray who is alive and in police custody. He said that Gray “will be charged with murder and handled as an adult.”
“The priority right now for us in this investigation is to gather all the facts,” Rosey said. “This is still a very active investigation.”
“I never imagined that I would be speaking to the media in my career over something that happened today — pure evil that happened today,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters, choking up a bit. “I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county.”
Smith said that the sheriff’s office was speaking with Gray and had been in contact with his family, but did not elaborate on what came from those conversations. Smith said they had “not identified” the weapon at this point.
The school superintendent said Barrow County schools would be closed for the rest of the week.
Around 10:20 a.m. ET officers from multiple agencies and emergency personnel were dispatched to the school after calls of an active shooter. About an hour later, the school was evacuated, with students being released to their families. Law enforcement and emergency responders were seen on campus, with at least two people being put into helicopters to be flown to hospitals, local news channel WSB-TV reported.
The Atlanta branch of the FBI also said it was assisting with the investigation of what was happening at the school.
School officials and the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Yahoo News’ requests for comment.
A 17-year-old student told ABC News that he was in chemistry class when he heard gunshots. He said his chemistry teacher locked the door as the rest of the class huddled in the back. The student said he could hear gunshots and screams and, at one point, someone banged on the classroom door and shouted “open up” multiple times. The student and his class were later evacuated to the football field.
One student told a reporter for Fox 5 Atlanta that he initially thought the gunshots were fake until he heard screaming. He described being evacuated from the building and seeing a body in one of the rooms. “There was a gun lying on the ground, with the bullets and the blood,” he said.
“They prepare you for these things,” a 15-year-old girl told the New York Times. “But in the moment, I started crying. I got nervous.”
President Biden issued a statement in response to the shooting, saying, “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.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was campaigning in New Jersey on Wednesday, called the shooting « a senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies. »
In a post on Truth Social, former president Donald Trump called the shooting “tragic” and the suspect “sick and deranged.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters he was “devastated” by the “terrible tragedy.”
“We are still gathering information but the FBI and ATF are on the scene, working with state, local and federal partners,” Garland said. “The Justice Department stands ready to provide resources or support to the Winder community needs in the days ahead.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wrote on X, “I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state. We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”