Four people were killed and at least nine others were wounded when a shooter opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday morning. Two of the victims killed in the shooting were students at the school and two were teachers, authorities said. They were identified as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie.
The nine people hospitalized after the shooting had been shot “in some capacity” and all were expected to survive their injuries, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a news conference, adding that the group included eight students and one teacher. Hospital officials said Thursday that at least seven of those patients have been treated and released, and at least one other remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Authorities have arrested a suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray, who was a student at the high school. He was taken into custody alive and will be charged with murder and “handled” as an adult, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.
Here is what we know about the victims so far.
Christina Irimie
Apalachee High School
Christina Irimie, a Romanian immigrant, was one of two teachers at Apalachee High School who died in the shooting. She was 53.
She is listed as a mathematics instructor in the staff directory published online by the Barrow County School District.
Irimie jumped in front of a student to protect them from the shooter, according to an eyewitness.
“I would not be surprised that she would do such thing because she was dedicated to her students, to the children,” Father Nicolae Clempus, who said he knew Irimie for more than 20 years, told CBS News.
Isaac Sanguma, a student at the school who was there when the shooting happened, told “CBS Mornings” that Irimie was his math teacher. He recalled speaking to Irimie for the last time on Wednesday morning when, he said, she encouraged him to get to class on time. The high school junior described Irimie as welcoming and said she prioritized instilling a sense of confidence in her students. He also said she was a kind person who told “corny jokes.”
“I didn’t know that was going to be my last time seeing her and talking to her,” Sanguma said. “I just can’t believe my teacher, somebody I see every day … it just don’t feel real.”
Richard Aspinwall
Apalachee High School
Richard Aspinwall was also a math teacher at Apalachee High School who died in the shooting. He was 39.
Aspinwall was an assistant coach for the high school’s football team and a father to two young girls, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The head football coach, Mike Hancock, told the news outlet that Aspinwall would hug his wife, Shayna, and their children in the end zone after every game.
Sophomore Isaiah Hooks, a player on the team, described his coach as a kind man whose standards he hopes to live up to.
“He would always push us to be who we are, and always made sure we were doing the right thing,” Hooks said.
Hooks had just seen his coach that morning at football practice.
“I wish it was all just a dream,” Hooks said. “I mean, me and my team, me and my friends, we can all just wake up and its still just Wednesday morning, and none of this had ever really happened.”
Aspinwall formerly served as the secondary football coach at Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia, according to that school’s football team.
“With deepest sympathy we share that former MV secondary coach Ricky Aspinwall was tragically lost during the senseless act at a nearby high school today,” reads a message posted on social media by the Mountain View Bears. “Coach A was a beloved member of MVHS football and the school’s math department. We pray for Shayna and his girls.”
Christian Angulo
Angulo, the youngest of four children, was one of two students killed in the shooting at Apalachee High School. He was 14.
“I was really close to him because he’s my best friend’s little brother,” student Ximena Verdin, a family friend, told CBS News. “Something really unexpected, you don’t expect it to happen to you until it does.”
Fourteen-year-old Ester Matias, a classmate of Christian’s, described him as “a very sweet kid.”
“He did not deserve this, neither did the coach (Aspinwall) or everyone else. And yeah, you know, it was very unfortunate.”
A GoFundMe campaign created by Lisette Angulo, who identified herself as Angulo’s oldest sister, describes him as “a very good kid” who was “very sweet and so caring.”
“He was so loved by many,” it reads. “His loss was so sudden and unexpected.. We are truly heartbroken.. He really didn’t deserve this.”
Angulo’s family has asked for donations to help support their funeral expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign had already raised more than $40,000, far exceeding its original goal.
Mason Schermerhorn
Mason Schermerhorn was also a student killed in Wednesday’s school shooting. He was 14 years old.
Ronald Clark, a chaplain who knows Schermerhor’s mother, told CBS News he went inside the school to help investigators find him.
“She thought she was coming to pick up her son to go home, that part, that just was devastating,” Clark said.
Friends of Schermerhorn’s family told The New York Times that he was a family-oriented teenager who “really enjoyed life.” One of them, 40-year-old Doug Kilburn, told the paper that Schermerhorn “always had an upbeat attitude about everything.” Louis Briscoe, a coworker and friend of Schermerhorn’s mother, said the teenager and his family were looking forward to their upcoming vacation at Disney World, the Times reported.
contributed to this report.