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The suspected teenage gunman who stormed a high school, killing four and injuring nine, has been named.
Colt Gray, 14, surrendered to deputies with the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office after they descended on Apalachee High School outside Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday.
After around 9 am, horrified students learned of an active shooting in their Winder school, and made desperate efforts to block their classrooms.
By 10:30, agencies across the city were racing to the scene, and anxious parents followed closely behind.
Aerial footage showed hundreds of students being escorted out of the massive school and onto the nearby football stadium bleachers.
Emotional parents were already standing outside waiting to hug their children and check whether they were safe.
In an early press conference, Barrow County Sheriff Judd Smith described the shooting as a “fluid scene” and said it would take several days to piece together what happened.
However, he did say, “What you see behind us is an evil thing.”
Law enforcement officials told CNN that the high school received a phone call earlier in the morning warning about the shooting.
The caller reportedly said there would be five school shootings in the area, and that AHS would be the first target.
However, no other schools saw shootings.
TEACHER SHOT
One woman named Katie Phenix came forward online to say that her father, a coach and special education teacher David Phenix, was one of the victims.
David is in stable condition, but his daughter said he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
David was shot in the foot and his hip was completely shattered by gunfire, Katie said.
“We are so thankful for all the texts, calls, and messages about my dad, David Phenix,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We will update as we hear new information. We are so, so lucky, but please keep our family as well as the AHS family in your prayers.”
Government officials have started to speak out against the horror.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said he directed “all available state resources” to respond to the school.
“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation,” he said in a statement.
