Georgia law enforcement confirmed Wednesday that 14-year-old Colt Gray was arrested following an attack on his classmates at Apalachee High School earlier that morning.
At least four people were confirmed to have been killed, with nine others hospitalized, according to officials. Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Director Chris Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed during a press pool that Gray was a student at the school and that he surrendered after being encountered.
“At approximately 10:20 a.m. this morning, the Barrow County Sheriff’s office received alerts about reports of an active shooter and radio traffic [of] school resources officers having the same concern. Within minutes law enforcement was on scene as well, as two school resource officers assigned here to the school who immediately encountered the subject within just minutes of this report going out,” Hosey said. “Once they encountered the subject, the subject immediately surrendered to these officers and he was taken into custody.”
“The priority right now for us within this investigation is to gather all the facts, to make sure that we’re accurate with it, because this is a murder investigation.” Hosey said. “He will be charged with murder and he will be tried as an adult — handled as an adult. We are coordinating these charges [in this] investigation with District Attorney Brad Smith, who is the district attorney for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit here.”
Smith told the press that the shooter “realized” the encounter would “end with” an officer-involved shooting.
“Obviously the shooter was armed, our school resource officer engaged him, and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, it would end with an OIS — an officer involved shooting. He gave up, got on the ground and the deputy took him to custody,” Smith said.
Hosey confirmed that two of the victims were students and two were teachers.
Smith also noted that Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reached out, offering “every single resource he has to ensure justice prevails.”
“I don’t know why it happened, I may not ever know. We may not ever know. But I ask that you and our community lift up our schools, lift up our public safety and that, again, we do not let this hateful event prevail, as to what happened today,” Smith said.
Smith confirmed that investigators have interviewed Gray. Details about the investigation and how Gray was able to bring a weapon on campus are still unknown.
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