WINDER, Ga. — "I thought I was going to die."
That was the horrifying sentiment echoed by one Apalachee High School 10th-grader who said he was about to go to the bathroom moments before a gunman opened fire inside the school -- but he decided not to.
"I was going to go to the bathroom right before it happened," he told 11Alive's Molly Oak. "And I'm so glad I didn't because I'd probably be dead right now if I did."
The alleged gunman, 14-year-old Colt Gray, is accused of shooting and killing two 14-year-old students and two teachers, as well as injuring nine others at the school.
"I know my teacher. He got shot," the 10th-grader said. "I know one of my friend's friends got shot in the leg. I don't know everyone, but I know some people that were shot."
He also described the terrifying moments when shots rang out.
"I heard gunshots, and then my teacher told us to get in the corner. I heard screaming and police officers like, 'Get down!'"
Parents had to wait hours just to be reunited with their children, who were escorted to the football field, where some had to be interviewed by law enforcement in accordance with the investigation into the shooting.
What we know about the shooting
The GBI said deputies with the sheriff's office responded minutes after reports of an active shooter at 10:20 a.m. and encountered the suspect, who "immediately surrendered to these officers, and he was taken into custody."
Gray will be charged with murder, the GBI said. Sheriff Jud Smith said that authorities were looking into how he obtained a weapon and got it into school Wednesday morning. The weapon was not identified.
The victims were identified by the GBI as the following:
- Teacher Richard Aspinwall, 39
- Teacher Cristina Irimie, 53
- Student Mason Schermerhorn, 14
- Student Christian Angulo, 14
The shooting also left nine others hospitalized, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Eight of those injured were students and one was a teacher.
"Obviously the shooter was armed, and our school resource officer engaged him and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an OIS (officer-involved shooting)," Sheriff Smith said, describing how the suspect was taken into custody. "He gave up, got on the ground and the (officer) took him into custody."
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"The shooter was interviewed, speaking with investigators earlier, along with the GBI," Sheriff Smith said. "It is helping our investigation."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said that Gray was actually investigated in 2023 by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office after Gray allegedly posted online threats containing photos of guns in a threat to commit a school shooting. The time and location were unknown.
Gray was 13 years old at the time. At the time, the father said that though he had hunting guns in the house, his son did not have "unsupervised access" to them. The boy also denied making the online threats.
RELATED: Suspected Apalachee High shooter had been investigated last year for online threats: FBI Atlanta
The sheriff added, touching on a personal note: "This hits home for me, I was born and raised here, I went to school in this school system, my kids go to this school system. I'm proud of this school system, my heart hurts for these kids, my heart hurts for our community -- but I wanna make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known, love will prevail over what happened today. I assure you of that."