Two students and two teachers were killed in a Wednesday morning shooting at a high school in Winder, Georgia, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were the teachers killed in the attack at Apalachee High School, while 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were also killed, officials said at a Wednesday night press briefing.
Nine additional victims, eight students and one teacher, were taken to hospitals with injuries following the shooting, the GBI said. All are expected to survive.
Suspect Colt Gray, 14, a student at Apalachee, is in custody and was set to be booked in on murder charges Wednesday night, the GBI said, adding he will be tried as an adult. He used an AR-style weapon in the attack, according to authorities.
The friends and families of his alleged victims, meanwhile, are only beginning to come to terms with their losses.
Aspinwall and Irimie both taught math, according to the school’s website.
Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irmie both taught math at Apalachee High School, where they were killed in a shooting Wednesday along with two students.
Screenshot/Apalachee High School
Aspinwall was also the defensive coordinator of the Apalachee High School football team.
“He was a great dad, man, and a great father,” head coach Mike Hancock told the Athens Banner-Herald. “He loved his two girls and he loved his wife. He did happen to love the game of football and he was well respected around this area.”
Aspinwall was previously a teacher and coach at Lawrenceville, Georgia’s Mountain View High School. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of former Mountain View High School teacher and coach Ricky Aspinwall, who lost his life at Apalachee High School today,” the Mountain View High School athletics department said on its Facebook page.
The mother of Schermerhorn, who had autism, confirmed he was one of those killed to Channel 2 Action News after his family initially circulated his photo on social media when they couldn’t reach him in the wake of the shooting.
“He really enjoyed life,” Doug Kilburn, a family friend, told the New York Times. “He always had an upbeat attitude about everything.” Family friends told the newspaper that Schermerhorn enjoyed reading, cracking jokes, playing video games, and going to Walt Disney World.
Angulo’s sister Lisette wrote on a GoFundMe page raising money for the family’s funeral costs that he was “a very good kid and very sweet and so caring.”
“We are truly heartbroken,” said the sister of 14-year-old Christian Angulo, who was killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School Wednesday.
Angulo family/GoFundMe
“He was so loved by many,” she added. “His loss was so sudden and unexpected. We are truly heartbroken. He really didn’t deserve this.” The fundraiser for Angulo has already raised more than $33,000 in donations.
“This is everybody’s worst nightmare,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said at a Wednesday evening news conference. “I just want to offer my sincere condolences and our thoughts and prayers to the families that have lost loved ones, for those that are injured continuing to fight through just a tragic time.”
