Four Killed in Georgia High School Shooting; Suspect in Custody

Four people were killed and nine others injured after a teen gunman opened fire at a high school in Winder, Georgia, an old railroad town northeast of Atlanta.

The identities of the victims haven’t been released, but police said they include two students and two teachers. Apalachee High School, which has about 2,000 students and staff, had resumed classes early last month following summer break.

Police said that a 14-year-old boy, Colt Gray, also a student at the school, was in custody and would be charged as an adult. Sheriff Jud Smith said that a school resources officer engaged the shooter, who then realized that he would be killed if he didn’t surrender.

“He gave up,” said the sheriff, who grew up in the school district, and said that his own children are students there now. “My heart hurts for these kids,” Smith said.

The shooting disrupted a sunny and cool late summer morning in Winder, the seat of the Barrow County government located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Atlanta.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement on X that state officials and resources were being deployed.

“We will continue to work with local, state and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” Kemp said.

Nearby school districts enhanced patrols in response to the shooting, according to the AP. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, in a statement, said that “out of an abundance of caution” additional patrols would be deployed to that city’s schools for the remainder of the day.

There have been 29 mass killings in the US this year through Wednesday morning, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The database includes every mass killing since 2006 from all weapons in which four or more people, excluding the offender, were killed within a 24-hour time frame.

Brett Pulley of Bloomberg produced this report.

Photo: The scene after the shooting Wednesday. (Bloomberg)