Police in Georgia confirmed Wednesday that 14-year-old Colt Gray was arrested after attacking a classmate at Apalachee High School earlier that morning.
Authorities confirmed that at least four people were killed and nine were taken to hospital. Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Director Chris Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed at a press conference that Gray was a student at the school and that he turned himself in after the encounter.
“At approximately 10:20 a.m. this morning, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office received a report of a sighting and radio communication alert of an active shooter. [of] School security officers shared the same concerns. Law enforcement was on scene within minutes and two school security officers assigned to the school encountered the suspect within just minutes of the call,” Hosey said. “Once they encountered the suspect, he quickly surrendered to officers and was taken into custody.” (Related article: 'I thought I was going to die': Georgia student describes terrifying close call during school shooting)
“Our number one priority right now in this investigation is gathering all the facts and making sure we're accurate because this is a homicide investigation,” Hosey said. “He will be charged with murder and he will be tried as an adult and he will be treated as an adult. We are in the process of coordinating those charges.” [in this] This investigation is being conducted jointly with District Attorney Brad Smith, the District Attorney here in the Piedmont Judicial District.”
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Smith told reporters that the gunman “knew” the incident would “end” with a police shooting.
“Obviously the shooter was armed and our school resource officer engaged with him, but the shooter quickly realized that if he did not surrender it would end in an officer-involved shooting. He surrendered and went to the ground and a deputy sheriff took him into custody,” Smith said.
Hosey confirmed that two of the victims were students and two were teachers.
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Smith also noted that Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, has reached out and offered to “do everything in his power to ensure justice prevails.”
“We don't know why this happened, and we probably never will know. We never will, but I hope that you and our community can help increase safety in our schools and in the public, and that we can prevent hateful incidents like the one that occurred today from happening again,” Smith said.
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Smith confirmed that investigators have interviewed Gray, but details of the investigation and how Gray ended up bringing a weapon onto campus are not yet known.
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