Families of Georgia students have spoken of the terrifying wait for news of their children after a school shooting that left four dead.
Colt Gray, 14, opened fire at Apalachee High School on Wednesday, hitting at least 13 people as frenzied scenes engulfed the school in what has officially become the deadliest such incident in Georgia history.
When news of the shooting broke, parents and loved ones of students at the school were desperate for information regarding the safety and well-being of their children.
A parent, William Hartman, revealed that he received a call from his 17-year-old son who informed his parents that the incident was being filmed live on Facebook.
“I don’t know how to explain these feelings, this fear,” the father said.
The father of an Apalachee High School student, William Hartman, said he received a call from his 17-year-old son who informed him that the shooting was being filmed live on Facebook.
Grandparents Michelle and J Watson said they waited 45 minutes for news of their grandchild, a student at the school.
Colt Gray’s alleged murder weapon can be seen in the hallway of Apalachee High School where he allegedly killed four people and wounded nine
“I have two children who go to Hayman Morris (college) which borders the school and the first thing I did was call the schools straight away.
“Then the text messages and other messages started coming in from the schools. Terror. Absolute terror.”
The grandparents of an Apalachee High School student, Michelle and J Watson, recounted how they had to wait 45 minutes to hear from their grandchild.
“Really sad. Really sad… “You know, it took us a while to realize she wasn’t one of the victims. I mean, for 45 minutes… An hour…” they recall.
“An hour before we found out she was okay, it was very terrifying. It’s the last thing you expect in this heat,” they added.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, a number of surviving students spoke of their fears during that terrifying morning.
“I saw a kid with a gun,” said one young student.
“We heard gunshots, the teacher ran, slammed the door, made us all go to a corner,” recalls another.
A third parent revealed: “My son actually called me while this was happening in the classroom.”
Authorities said Gray’s shooting spree ended minutes after he began shooting around 10:23 a.m. before killing his four victims — teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14.
He immediately surrendered when confronted by law enforcement and “gave up and lay on the ground,” they added.
Student Christian Angulo, 14, was also shot dead in the senseless shooting.
Teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall lost their lives in the tragedy
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, an autistic student at Apalachee High School, was the first victim to be identified. He was one of four people killed in the mass shooting.
It is unclear how the 14-year-old gunman got his hands on the weapon used in the attack, with police reportedly raiding his family’s home in the hours after the shooting.
Authorities say they are still investigating how Gray was able to bring an AR-style weapon into his school, with footage of the aftermath appearing to show the weapon on the ground as terrified students were escorted through the hallways to safety.
After his arrest, Gray will be charged with murder and tried as an adult, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
Footage from the scene showed students rushing onto campus as terrified parents rushed to find their children, with one mother describing the scene outside the school as pure “chaos”.
Lyela Sayerath, a first-grader at the school, said she was sitting next to Colt Gray in algebra class minutes before he started the shooting.
She told CNN that Colt left the classroom at the start of class at 9:45 a.m., about a half-hour before active shooter alerts sounded.
Gray didn’t take a bathroom pass, she said, which initially led her to think he was just skipping class — before a loudspeaker announced to teachers to check their emails.
Shortly after, Sayerath said Gray returned outside their classroom and a student stood up to open the door for him before jumping at the sight of his gun.
“I guess he saw that we weren’t going to let him in. And I guess the door to the classroom next to me was open, so I think he started shooting into the classroom,” she said.
Students and residents commemorate those who lost their lives by lighting candles near the scene of the mass shooting at Apalachee High School on September 4
Security forces take action at the scene of a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
Lyela Sayarath, a freshman at Apalachee High School, said she was sitting next to gunman Colt Gray, 14, in algebra class moments before he opened fire.
Sayerath said Gray proceeded to shoot a number of bullets “one after the other,” adding: “When we heard it, most people just dropped to the ground and crawled into one area, like they were stacked on top of each other.”
Sayerath said her friend was in the next classroom and saw someone get shot, which left him “shaken.” “He saw someone get shot. He had blood on him. He was limping a little bit. He looked horrified,” she added.
Describing his classmate, Sayarath said Gray “never really spoke, he wasn’t (at school) most of the time, he just skipped class… Even when he did speak, it was one-word answers.”
Sayarath said she was not surprised when Gray was identified as the shooter and said that “when you think about shooters and how they act, it’s usually the quiet kid and he was the one who fit that description.”
But the shooter’s relatives came to his defense, sparking a backlash online and within the local community.
The teenager’s aunt, Annie Polhamus Brown, took to Facebook shortly after the incident, discussing the issues he had “been dealing with” and saying she would “look after my nephew and what he needs in that regard.”
“Check yourself before you talk about a child who never asked to deal with the bullshit he sees on a daily basis,” she said in the posts, which have now been deleted.
“You ready to see Polhamu’s blood at full speed? No, neither do I.”
Polhamus Brown said she had done “everything I could to fight for her nephew” while accusing people of “playing the blame game”.
She also had a few words for the victims of the shooting, saying that “the families affected by my nephew’s actions deserve all the attention now.”
“I will NOT disrespect other parents and families dealing with this tragedy. THEY DO NOT DESERVE THIS,” she wrote.
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