On Wednesday (Sept. 4), a mass shooting took the lives of four and injured several others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, were confirmed as the fatal victims. A teenager – whom the Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray – was confirmed as the suspect.

The AJC also revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was previously warned about the possibility of a shooting. Back in 2023, the FBI's National Threat Operations Center received anonymous threats about potential violence via an online gaming site. Said threats, which included images of guns, were traced to Gray, who was subsequently interviewed by law enforcement.

“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” a statement from the bureau read. “The subject denied making the threats online.” Janis Mangum, the sheriff for nearby Jackson County where Gray resided, added that the child was being monitored and local schools were given notice.

As CNN reported on Thursday (Sept. 5), Gray surrendered to authorities after the deadly incident – which is at least the 45th school shooting to take place in 2024 – and was taken to the Gainesville Youth Detention Center. According to Juvenile Justice Communications Director Glenn Allen, he'll make his first court appearance via a virtual hearing on Friday (Sept. 6). Gray will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.

At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Vice President Kamala Harris gave remarks on the tragic event. "It is just outrageous that every day in the United States of America, parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive," she stated. "It doesn't have to be this way."