14-year-old student suspect in Georgia school shooting that left 4 dead will be booked tonight, officials say

Winder, Georgia (CNN) 鈥� The 14-year-old suspect in the at a Winder, Georgia, high school will be booked Wednesday night, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at an evening news conference.

Colt Gray in connection with the deaths of two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, authorities said.

The deceased victims were听14-year-old听Mason Schermerhorn,听14-year-old听Christian Angulo, and听Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to Hosey. The school鈥檚 website shows the two adults were both math teachers and Aspinwall was also an assistant football coach.

Gray is a student at Apalachee High School and will be handled as an adult as he moves through the court system, Hosey said at an earlier news conference.

Nine other victims 鈥� eight students and one teacher 鈥� were taken to hospitals following the Wednesday morning shooting, according to the GBI.

Hosey said the gun was an AR-platform weapon while a law enforcement official earlier told CNN it was an AR-15-style.

The gunfire sent students and faculty desperately scurrying for cover as schools across the county went into lockdown and parents scrambled for information.

During the shooting, 14-year-old Macey Right texted her mom saying she heard gunshots and asked her mother to come get her. Right and her friends held hands and prayed in their classroom, she said. Moments later, they were disrupted by banging and yelling, according to Macey.

鈥淚 heard gunshots outside my classroom and people screaming, people begging not to get shot, and then people sitting beside me just shaking and crying,鈥� Macey said.

Authorities spoke to suspect and his father last year

The suspect was interviewed by local law enforcement in May 2023 after the FBI received 鈥渟everal anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,鈥� according to from the FBI鈥檚 Atlanta office and the Jackson County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.

The online threats included photographs of guns, the statement said.

鈥淭he father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have

unsupervised access to them,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭he subject denied making the threats online.鈥�

The FBI said there was no probable cause for an arrest at the time.

Wednesday鈥檚 shooting is the deadliest of the so far this calendar year, according to a CNN analysis. It is one of 11 school shootings with four or more deaths since 2008, when CNN first started tracking school shootings.

Authorities said the first report of an active shooter came in at 10:20 a.m. ET. A school resource deputy assigned to Apalachee High , who got on the ground and was taken into custody, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters.

Witness sat next to suspected shooter

Lyela Sayarath, 16, told CNN in an algebra class.

She said he left class early, around 9:45 a.m., but didn鈥檛 take a bathroom pass. She thought he might be skipping.

Toward the end of class, someone told her teacher over the loudspeaker to check their email, she said.

Shortly after, Gray was outside the classroom door, which was shut, Lyela said. Another student who went to the door jumped backwards when she saw he had a gun.

鈥淚 guess he saw we weren鈥檛 gonna let him in,鈥� Lyela said. 鈥淎nd I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open, so I think he just started shooting in the classroom.鈥�

At first, she told CNN she heard a burst of gunfire 鈥� maybe 10 to 15 shots 鈥� and then they were 鈥渒ind of just one after another.鈥�

Students dropped to the floor and crawled to the corner, Lyela said.

鈥淚t seemed like this wasn鈥檛 something he planned too well or that he wasn鈥檛 really strong with the gun because he didn鈥檛 try and shoot our door. Once he saw he couldn鈥檛 get in our room, he just went to the next one.鈥�

Latest developments

鈥� The high school had received an earlier phone threat, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. The phone call Wednesday morning warned there would be shootings at five schools, and that Apalachee would be the first. It is not known who placed the call.

鈥� Investigators听听to the suspected shooter and have been in touch with his family, Smith said.

鈥� It was not immediately known whether the assailant had some , the sheriff said, though officials stressed that will be part of the investigation.

鈥� Schools in Barrow County the rest of the week.

鈥� The US has suffered听at least this year, according to the听, which, like CNN, defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That鈥檚听an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day.

Student texted mom: 鈥業鈥檓 scared鈥�

Erin Clark was at work Wednesday morning when she got a series of text messages from her son, a senior, who was attending听class at Apalachee High School.

鈥淪chool shooting.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 scared,鈥� he wrote.

鈥減ls鈥� 鈥渋鈥檓 not joking,鈥� the flurry of messages said.

鈥淚鈥檓 leaving work,鈥� Clark replied. 鈥淚 love you,鈥� her son, Ethan Haney, 17, wrote back.

鈥淟ove you too baby,鈥� his mom texted before racing to the high school.

Clark told CNN her son heard eight or nine gunshots before he closed his classroom door and, with the help of another classmate, moved chairs and tables to block the door.

Clark told CNN she was 鈥渁bsolutely terrified鈥� when she read her son鈥檚 messages. 鈥淛ust kept praying he鈥檇 stay safe,鈥� she said.

Schools in county went into lockdown

As emergency responders came from several counties, video from outside the school showed at least five ambulances and a large law enforcement presence at the campus, and at least one medical helicopter could be seen airlifting a patient from the scene.

At the football field, where authorities had students gather, people lowered their heads and formed a prayer circle in the end zone, standing on the letters for 鈥淎palachee鈥� as their classmates milled around the field.

All schools in the Barrow County School System, which includes the high school, were placed on lockdown and police were sent out of an abundance of caution to all district high schools, according to the sources, but there are no reports of secondary incidents or scenes.

Some of the critically injured were removed by helicopter, and additional helicopters are on standby.

Atlanta trauma center, other hospitals take patients

Grady Health System 鈥� a Level 1 trauma center in Atlanta, about an hour drive from Winder 鈥� received one gunshot wound victim from the incident who was transported by helicopter, a hospital spokesperson told CNN.

Earlier, a source with knowledge听of the situation who is not authorized to speak to the media, told CNN Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital in North Georgia received two victims from the shooting. The source said one victim is an adult with a gunshot wound to the stomach and was in surgery, and another is a minor with unspecified injuries.

Three gunshot victims were taken to nearby hospitals following the shooting, according to a hospital official, and five other patients reported to the hospital with symptoms related to a panic attack.

Two gunshot victims were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow with non-life threatening injuries, Northeast Georgia Health System spokesperson Layne Saliba said. Four other patients came with symptoms related to panic attacks.

Another gunshot victim was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville with non-life threatening injuries, Saliba said, and an additional patient came to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton with symptoms related to a panic attack.

Georgia governor sends prayers and says he can send resources

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has directed all available state resources to assist at the scene, he said in a statement on social media. The governor urged 鈥渁ll Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state.鈥�

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, the White House said, offering federal support to state and local officials.

鈥淗is administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information,鈥� the White House said in a statement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland similarly said the US Department of Justice 鈥渟tands ready鈥� to support the community after the shooting.

鈥淲e are still gathering information, but the FBI and ATF are on the scene, working with state, local and federal partners,鈥� Garland said at a meeting of the Justice Department鈥檚 Election Threats Task Force.

Winder had a population of about 18,338 as of the 2020 census, according to The is the 24th largest school district in the state, per the district鈥檚 website. It serves about 15,340 students, 1,932 of whom are enrolled at Apalachee High School.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN鈥檚 Isabel Rosales reported from Winder, while Nick Valencia reported from Atlanta. CNN鈥檚 John Miller and Dakin Andone reported from New York. Taylor Galgano, Jaide Timm-Garcia, Holly Yan, Steve Almasy, Josh Campbell, Maureen Chowdhury, Amy O鈥橩ruk, Alex Leeds Matthews,听Shawn Nottingham, Rebekah Riess, Devan Cole, Hannah Rabinowitz and Mark Morales contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire