1 of 2 | Fourteen-year-old student Jose Ortiz (R) accepts an embrace from chaplain Ronald Clark at a makeshift memorial, one day after a deadly school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE
Sept. 5 (UPI) — Colt Gray, the 14-year-old Georgia school shooting suspect, is charged with four counts of murder, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
He is set to appear in Barrow County Superior Court for his first appearance Friday morning.
The 8:30 a.m. Friday hearing will be virtual, according to Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice spokesperson Glenn Allen.
Gray is expected to be tried for murder as an adult in Wednesday’s Apalachee High School attack.
The GBI wrote on X Thursday, “The investigation into the shooting at Apalachee HS is still active & ongoing. This is day 2 of a very complex investigation & the integrity of the case is paramount. We ask for the public’s patience as we work to ensure a successful prosecution & justice for the victims.”
The GBI has identified those killed as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, math teacher and assistant football coach RIchard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and math teacher Christina Irimie, 53.
Nine other people were injured.
Christian’s sister Lisette Angulo wrote on a GoFundMe page that “he was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected. We are truly heartbroken. He really didn’t deserve this.”
A GoFundMe page for Aspinwall said, “We are all in shock over the news that Ricky Aspinwall lost his life protecting his students. Please consider donating to help Shayna Aspinwall with expenses she will have to incur and to make sure her two precious babies are taken care of.”
On their GoFundMe page, Irimie’s family said, “She dedicated her life to shaping the minds and hearts of students and the community.”
She immigrated from Romania more than 20 years ago and was active in the community, friend and her pastor Nicolae Clempus told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The FBI said late Wednesday that the shooting suspect was previously investigated in May 2023 after anonymous tips regarding threats he allegedly made to commit a school shooting.
At the time, Gray denied making the online threats and the FBI said there was no legal basis for charging him for any crime.
On Thursday night he was taken to a youth detention center in Gainesville.
During the shooting, the school used a new Crisis Alert System made by the Atlanta-based private company Centegix. In that system, teachers wear badges with the ability to press a button to notify law enforcement if a shooting is happening.
Investigators are working to determine Gray’s motive for the shooting.
Jackson County Sheriff Janis G. Magnum said during a New York Times interview Thursday, “I’m broken to think about what happened yesterday.”
Her investigators interviewed Gray in May 2023 over alleged online threats, she said.
According to police, Gray used an AR-15-style “platform” weapon in the mass shooting.
When investigators questioned him in 2023 about alleged online threats made on Discord, investigators said in a report that, “Colt expressed concern that someone is accusing him of threatening to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner.”
One investigator described the teen as “calm and reserved.”
Police said Gray’s father told them his son did not have unfettered access to the hunting guns in the house.
Investigators are looking into how Gray got the weapon he allegedly used in the school shooting and are also looking for a possible motive.
GBI Director Chris Hosey said investigators know about previous contacts between Gray’s family and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services and are looking into that, as well.
Sophomore Abby Turner texted her mother during the shooting, she said. She and her friends heard banging outside, opened the classroom door and saw police in the hall.
They hid behind a long lab table in back of the classroom.
“That’s when I heard the shots,” Abby said in an interview with the Washington Post.
She said her teacher told the students to get down, be quiet and don’t talk.