Another 14-year-old arrested with a gun at Georgia high school after deadly shooting
WINDER, Ga. — A 14-year-old student was arrested after bringing a gun to Apalachee High School, the same high school in Georgia, on Wednesday where a shooting killed two teachers and two students and injured others in September.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said school personnel arrested the boy “without incident” Wednesday afternoon at the school in Winder, about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta. Deputies said the student was “cooperative and compliant when encountered by law enforcement and there were no reports of the student threatening anyone with the gun.”
The student, who was not named because of his age, was taken to a juvenile detention facility in Gainesville. He is charged with two counts of possessing a weapon on school property, theft and possessing a firearm as a minor. The police would not say what kind of weapon was seized. Authorities said the student was arrested at school shortly after 2 p.m., but they did not say when he arrived or release details about the circumstances of the arrest.
The Barrow County School District canceled classes Thursday at the high school with nearly 2,000 students about 45 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.
The September 4 shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were injured, seven of whom were hit by gunfire.
Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time, was charged as an adult after the September shooting indicted on 55 countsincluding murder and 25 counts of aggravated assault at the high school. He has pleaded not guilty. His father, Colin Gray, was indicted on 29 counts, including two counts of manslaughter and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, based on prosecutors’ claim that Colin Gray giving his son access to weapons and ammunition “after being sufficiently warned” that the boy would harm others. Colin Gray has that too pleaded not guilty.
The district told parents that students and staff were not allowed to report to school Thursday and that extracurricular activities on campus had been canceled. The district also canceled an open house to tour new portable classrooms built on campus to replace those in the now-closed hallway where the shooting occurred.
Wednesday’s arrest came after some students, teachers and parents attended a Barrow County school board meeting Tuesday to demand that the district take additional visible steps to improve safety in Apalachee. They proposed increasing school staff, requiring clear backpacks and purchasing an automated camera system that its maker says can detect weapons using artificial intelligence.
Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said at the meeting that the district will present the results of a security review later this month and has met with school officials to discuss what security measures they recommend.
“It’s been a very intentional process,” LeDuff said. “I think I’m proud of the work that our employees have done.”