Four people were killed and nine more were hospitalized with injuries after a shooting Wednesday morning at a high school in northern Georgia, authorities have confirmed.Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at an afternoon news conference that two of the victims who were killed were students and two were teachers at Apalachee High School, located in Winder, Georgia.The suspect was identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the school, Hosey said. He was taken into custody alive. The alleged shooter will be charged with murder and “handled” as an adult, Hosey added.
The victims were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. Aspinwall and Irimie were both math teachers, according to the school’s website.
All nine of the hospitalized victims had been shot “in some capacity,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said. All nine were expected to survive, Smith said.
Law enforcement officials arrive to give a press conference outside of Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 4, 2024, after a shooting took place in which four people were killed, including two students and two teachers. A 14-year-old suspect was arrested. CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The suspect surrendered when he was confronted by responding law enforcement officers, Smith said. Smith disclosed that the alleged gunman was speaking with authorities and that those conversations were “helping with our investigation.” He was being held at the Barrow County Detention Center.
The alleged shooter used an AR platform-style gun and there was no evidence any other shooters were involved, according to Hosey.
“We’re still trying to clarify a lot of the timeline from the time that he got here to school today to the time the incident took place,” Hosey said in a late-night news conference.
FBI Atlanta said on social media Wednesday night that county authorities had interviewed the suspect last year about online threats to commit a school shooting.
According to FBI Atlanta, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center found that the posts came from Georgia, and “the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action.”
The sheriff’s office interviewed the then-13-year-old boy and his father. The boy said he was not responsible for the threats. The father said he had hunting guns in the house, but that his son did not have “unsupervised access to them,” FBI Atlanta said.
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“Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject, FBI Atlanta said. “At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels.”
Two gunshot victims were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow and one gunshot victim was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville. All three had injuries that were not considered life-threatening. A spokesperson for Grady Health System, which operates Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, previously said staff had received one gunshot wound patient from the high school.
In addition to the wounded, multiple patients came into the hospital system with anxiety symptoms and others experiencing panic attacks, a spokesperson confirmed to CBS News.
“This is a very, very fluid investigation,” said Smith. “This is going to take multiple days for us to get answers as to what happened and why this happened.”
Administrators had earlier placed students and faculty on lockdown as reports emerged online of a possible active shooter at the school in Winder, Georgia, which is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Officers were dispatched to the site at approximately 10:23 a.m. EDT, according to the sheriff. The premises were cleared within an hour, the school said, and students started being released to their families.
According to Smith, law enforcement was notified of the threat thanks to a new security system that had been installed about a week earlier. Smith noted there were three school resources officers on campus at the time of the shooting.
Georgia school shooting locationApalachee High School
Marques Coleman, 14, a student at the school told CBS affiliate WANF he was inside the classroom when the shooting happened and something in his head told him to look to his left. “I see a kid with a, he had like a big gun,” said Coleman, who said the student just started shooting. “I got up, I started running, he started shooting like, like 10 times. He shot at least at least 10 times.”
Coleman said he dived behind the desk and his teacher got in front of him, “My teacher started barricading the door with desks,” he said. After he got up Coleman told WANF he saw, “one of my classmates on the ground bleeding so bad,” another girl shot in the leg and a friend shot in the stomach.
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“I just thank God that I wasn’t the one that got hit, you know, like in the midst of all of it happening. I was just thanking God because you know, he had his hands around me and stuff like that because I could have been the one that got here because I was right there. He could have easily got me. But God had his hands around me,” said Coleman.
There was a heavy police presence seen on the school’s property Wednesday morning, WANF reported at around 11 a.m. Aerial footage from the news station showed dozens of ambulances, officers and a medical helicopter gathered in the parking lot and on the green outside of the building. At that time, at least one person had been transferred into the helicopter on a stretcher and students evacuated to the school’s stadium, where buses were due to pick them up, according to WANF.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were also called to the scene. FBI Atlanta said they were “coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement” in a statement shared just before 12 p.m. on social media.
A medevac helicopter lands at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, Sept. 4, 2024, in a screen capture from video footage.WANF-TV
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addressed the situation in a social media statement released around the same time, saying his office had moved state resources to help with the response to what he described as an “incident at Apalachee High School.”
“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Kemp said. “We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”
President Biden and his administration were aware of the shooting, the White House Press Office said in a statement.
“President Biden has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, on the tragic shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information,” the statement said.
Some 1,900 students are enrolled at Apalachee High School. Classes begin each day at 8:15 a.m., according to the district calendar district calendar. Barrow County schools will be closed for the remainder of the week, the superintendent said.
Jose Olmos, 42, with Jazele and Daniel, the children he is suspected of murdering before killing himself at the family home in Amarillo on Saturday evening
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A family has been shattered after a violent husband shot dead his young wife and their two children at their home in Texas.
Police were called to the 3600 block of NE 14th Avenue in Amarillo early on Saturday evening after a family member found the bodies of Jose Olmos his wife Jessica, 33, and their children Jazele and Daniel.
The 42-year-old electrician had been arrested by Amarillo Police on May 19 on charges of assaulting a family member but returned to the family home after being released on a $500 bond.
Investigators believe Olmos killed himself and his family in a murder-suicide and mugshot taken at the time of his arrest reveals scratch marks on the neck of the suspected killer.
‘Oh Jessica Olmos! I’m so sorry that I couldn’t help you out of this,’ family friend Clara Nunez wrote on Facebook.
Jose Olmos, 42, with Jazele and Daniel, the children he is suspected of murdering before killing himself at the family home in Amarillo on Saturday evening
• The body of the children’s mother Jessica Olmos, 33, was also found by a horrified relative
Jazale and Daniel are amazing kids. I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that you’ll be remembered forever. It doesn’t end here I promise!’
The couple who marked their tenth wedding anniversary on July 4 had lived at Olmos’s address since their marriage.
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Jessica worked as an office manager for Jeff Bara State Farm Agency in the town and her 7th grade daughter was a keen wrestler.
Just months earlier the family had posed for a seemingly idyllic photoshoot in the fields near their home, and photographer Anna Vega spoke of her shock at their violent deaths.
‘I am so devastated by the news this morning,’ she wrote as she reposted the pictures on Facebook.
‘I told you while you were here but Jessica it was an absolute honor to have worked with you and your beautiful kids.
‘Jazele and Daniel were so sweet, I can still picture them giggling and laughing when Daniel jumped on her back.
‘In a world that’s so morbid, the reason I posted these photos was so hopefully people get to see a small glimpse of the shining light you all were and not just the final moments that took you all away.’
Jessica had lost her younger sister in February last year, and the troubled couple joined the rest of her family to celebrate mother’s day with mother Blanca Menendez just six days before Olmos’s arrest for domestic violence in May this year.
The deaths took place less than four months after Olmos was freed on a $500 bond after being released on domestic abuse charges
Jessica’s stepdaughter Arianna Olmos pointedly omitted the father as she paid a moving tribute to his murdered family.
‘When I was told three of the most caring souls I knew gained their angel wings my heart sunk and broke into pieces,’ the West Texas A&M University student wrote.
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‘You three were loved by all those around you and will be missed.
‘Jazale my baby I’m going to miss that smile of yours, your laugh, and goofy faces.
•Ambulance vehicle in the town of Beita, in the occupied West Bank. From August 2024.
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A 26-year-old American woman has been shot dead in the occupied West Bank during a protest.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was born in Turkey, is reported to have been taking part in a protest against Jewish settlement expansion in the town of Beita near Nablus.
Ms Ezgi Eygi was allegedly shot by Israeli troops, according to local media reports. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say they “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them” in the Beita area.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington is “urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death and will have more to say as we learn more”.
Mr Miller also offered his “deepest condolences” to Ms Ezgi Eygi’s family and loved ones.
His comments were echoed by US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, who said Washington has “no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens”.
The American activist was rushed to a hospital in Nablus with a gunshot to the head and was later pronounced dead, AFP news agency reported.
Dr Fouad Naffa, head of the hospital to which Ms Ezgi Eygi was admitted, confirmed that a US citizen in her mid-20s died from a “gunshot in the head”.
In a statement, the IDF said it was “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area”.
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“The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” the Israeli military added.
According to reports by Palestinian media, the 26-year-old had been involved in a campaign to protect farmers from Israeli settler violence.
Ms Ezgi Eygi was both American and Turkish, having been born in Antalya, as reported by Turkish media.
In a statement, the Turkish foreign ministry described her death as “murder”, adding that Ms Ezgi Eygi was “killed by Israeli occupation soldiers in the city of Nablus”.
It comes after Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin city and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, following a major nine-day operation there.
During the operation, at least 36 Palestinians were killed – 21 from Jenin governorate – the Palestinian health ministry says. Most of the dead have been claimed by armed groups as members, but the ministry says children are also among those killed.
In the past 50 years, Israel has built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 Jews now live.
Settlements are held to be illegal under international law – that is the position of the UN Security Council and the UK government, among others – although Israel rejects this. (BBC)
United Kingdom universities are grappling with severe financial difficulties due to recent restrictions on visas for international students.
On Thursday, university leaders called for an urgent increase in domestic tuition fees to help offset significant deficits, as reported by AFP.
The President of Universities UK, Sally Mapstone, which represents 141 higher education institutions, warned that the sector is “feeling the crunch” following the introduction of visa curbs last year. visa
She stated, “There is now a clear choice. We can allow our distinguished, globally competitive higher education system to slide into decline or we can act together.”
According to a report from the House of Commons, UK higher education institutions generated over £50 billion in total income during 2022-23, with a significant portion coming from tuition fees and grants.
International students, who pay higher fees than domestic students, have become a crucial revenue source for universities.
However, the government under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak implemented restrictions on overseas student visas, including a ban on students bringing family members.
This policy was part of an effort to reduce record levels of immigration. As a result, there were 30,000 fewer international student applications in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to official data.
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University officials have repeatedly raised concerns over the financial impact of the visa restrictions.
Mapstone revealed that the higher education sector is currently facing a £1.7 billion deficit for teaching and a £5 billion shortfall for research. Without urgent intervention, there are fears that some institutions may be forced to cut courses or even close their doors.
To address the growing crisis, university leaders are urging the government to raise domestic tuition fees, which have been capped at £9,250 since 2017.
Shitij Kapur, head of King’s College London, argued that fees should now be set between £12,000 and £13,000 to reflect rising costs.
At a Universities UK conference in Reading, new Labour Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson acknowledged the financial challenges faced by the sector.
“I can’t promise painless or immediate resolutions. But I do promise that these issues will get the attention and the commitment they deserve,” Phillipson said in a video message to attendees.
