Students recall the moment Georgia school shooter pulled AR-15-style rifle out of his bag and opened fire: ‘Thank god that I didn’t open the door’
Students recovering from the traumatic Apalachee High School shooting have shared stories of the moment they narrowly avoided gunman Colt Gray as he opened fire, killing four people.
Classmate Bri Jones, 14, said Gray quietly left the room and she almost let him back in before noticing him brandishing an AR-style weapon.
“As I was looking at the door, he pulled out his gun, and I froze, just like I froze and said ‘no,'” Jones told CNN. “He had every single one of us in that classroom.”
The entire community of Winder, Georgia, is still in shock over the tragedy on Wednesday. Heartbreaking vigils are being held on the school campus as Gray, 14, faces murder charges.
Bri Jones, 14, a classmate of the alleged shooter at school, said she almost opened the door on the gunman but stopped when she saw his gun. She admitted that if she had done so, he “would have gotten every one of us in that class.”
Colt Gray, 14, allegedly shot 13 people, four of them fatally, in a horrific shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on Wednesday morning.
Gray has been arrested and charged with the murders of teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old.
The shooter’s father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with a series of crimes, including murder. Prosecutors say he gave his son the gun “with the understanding that he was a threat to himself and others.”
Both father and son face life imprisonment.
Several classmates shared similar stories, describing how the teen quietly slipped away from algebra class around 10 a.m. Wednesday and returned minutes later with a gun.
Jones says she almost opened the door but stopped herself thanks to a tip from her mother.
“I always look outside before I open the door… that’s a habit my mother taught me,” she said.
Even though she saw the gun, Jones said her teacher urged her to open the door “because she didn’t know he had a gun, because she was sitting at her desk.”
“She went to walk over, open the door, and I was like, ‘No, he has a gun,’” Jones said.
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, an autistic student at Apalachee High School, was the first victim to be identified. Christian Angulo, 14, also lost his life in the senseless shooting
“The shooter, he looked up,” Jones continued. “He looked at me, my teacher, and then there was someone in the hallway. He turned his head and just started shooting.
“Once he started shooting, it seemed like he just kept going. There were so many shots coming one after the other… It felt like he kept shooting forever – and then it stopped.”
Students said that when Gray did not enter his own classroom, he opened fire into the classroom next door while their door was open.
At that moment, teacher Richard Aspinwall was shot dead in front of his shocked class. According to student Malaysia Mitchell, it was traumatic for her.
“We had to drag our teacher’s body all the way into the classroom,” she told CNN. “We heard him take his last breath.”
The prosecution said they are not ruling out filing further charges against Gray in connection with the shooting.
When his father Colin appeared in court on Friday, footage showed him rocking back and forth and sobbing as the victim’s loved ones looked on.
Colt’s father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, is accused of buying his 14-year-old son the AR-15-style rifle the boy used and was arrested Thursday on multiple charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children.
Georgia school shooter Colt Gray made his first court appearance Friday
The hearing for Colin Gray came shortly after his 14-year-old son Colt was told that as a minor he would not face the death penalty for the murders of four people.
The teenager appeared in person in shackles, wearing a green T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He held his head down, his hair covering his face, and spoke quietly only to Judge Currie Mingledorff, answering “yes sir” when asked to confirm his name.
The distraught father began to falter after Judge Mingledorff told him the maximum sentences he could receive. He is expected to appear in court on December 4.
Judge Mingledorff advised the elder Gray that he could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison for each charge of murder, 10 years for each charge of involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children – the maximum being 180 years.
The victims’ relatives stared at him throughout the hearing, as he kept his head bowed and avoided eye contact with anyone except the judge.
Dozens of emotional family members filled the courtroom for both of Gray’s initial appearances, with some visibly weeping before the hearing even began. Some wore sunglasses to cover their faces and were supported in the courtroom by detectives.
Relatives of both father and son did not appear to support them in court.
Judge Mingledorff advised the elder Gray that he could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison for each charge of murder, 10 years for each charge of involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children – the maximum being 180 years.