By The Diary
Sep 24, 2024, 02:26 AM EDT
On Tuesday, September 24, Apalachee High School in Winder will reopen to all students, nearly three weeks after the shooting that left two students and two teachers dead and nine people injured.
Police say Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, sneaked out of math class on the morning of Sept. 4 with an AR-15-style rifle given to him by his father. Within minutes, he opened fire, sending students cowering behind desks as teachers barricaded classroom doors.
The four victims who lost their lives during the shooting on Wednesday, September 4, were identified by authorities as:
- Richard Aspinwall, 39, teacher and coach.
- Christina Irimie, 53 years old, teacher.
- Mason Schermerhorn, 14, student.
- Christian Angulo, 14 years old, student.
After going through the traumatic moment, Apalachee students will return to the classrooms.
“I don’t want to go back because it’s my last year and things are a little difficult for me,” Junior Garcia Ramirez, who was close to the soccer coach killed by the gunman, told The Associated Press.
Police officers, counselors, therapy dogs
But the school’s open house on Monday helped Ramirez feel more “prepared” to return. He said there was “not a single corner” of the school without staff, police officers, counselors or therapy dogs roaming the halls.
The young student also shared that his classmates were excited to be together again, but some were nervous about returning to class as the blocked-off hallway where the shooting occurred reminded them of when their safety was at risk.
He is eligible for life imprisonment
Colt Gray was charged with four counts of murder and authorities said that if found guilty, he would not face the death penalty because he is under 18, but that he is eligible for a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
His father, Colin Gray, 54, was indicted on a total of 14 counts of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to a child, related to allegedly allowing his son access to the gun.
Marcee Gray, 43, mother of Colt Gray, was charged with exploitation of an elderly person and other crimes in Ben Hill County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The charge against her stems from a domestic incident late last year and is unrelated to the Appalachian High School shooting.
Classes will be half-day
As for the return to school, classes will resume on a half-day basis until students return from fall break in mid-October, in what the school is calling a “phased return,” AP reported.
The classroom where the shooting occurred will be closed for the rest of the school year, so buses will take students to a building a few miles away for social studies classes.
With information from AP
Continue reading:
- VIDEO: Juvenile suspect in Georgia high school shooting appears in court alongside his father, also charged in the case
- Mother of boy accused of killing four in Georgia school shooting says he’s not a monster
- Colt Gray’s mother alerted school minutes before deadly Georgia shooting, aunt says