Inside the Georgia high school where a sleepy morning was pierced by gunfire

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — It was the middle of second period at Apalachee High School, and the boy who few knew slipped out of his algebra class in J Hall again. That didn't strike his fellow students as unusual.

“He got up sometime in the morning, and class continued as normal,” Lyela Sayarath said. “He was probably just skipping.”

Many teenagers weren't quite awake on Wednesday morning at the high school near Winder, in rapidly suburbanizing Barrow County. Junior Julie Sandoval was dozing in her physics class as other students caught up on work. Sophomore Jacob King also dozed off, in world history, after a morning football practice.

But soon, terror and panic erupted as authorities say Colt Gray, the 14-year-old student who left class, returned to the hallway with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle and opened fire. Four people were killed and nine more hurt, seven of them shot, in the latest school shooting to shock the nation.

Gray is charged with four counts of murder. Authorities haven't said yet where he got the weapon, how he brought it to campus or what he did with it in the two hours between school starting at 8:15 a.m. and when shots first rang out around 10:20 a.m.

Law enforcement hasn't said whether Gray was being sought before the shooting. “We’re still trying to clarify a lot of the timeline,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said Wednesday.

On Thursday, officials also arrested his father, Colin Gray, and charged him with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children, saying he knowingly allowed his son to possess a gun.

At the school on Wednesday morning, the alert was sounded when several teachers set off their wearable panic buttons, which Sheriff Jud Smith said were distributed to staff only days earlier. That sparked a lockdown, and immediately a warning flashed on classroom smartboards across the sprawling school.

“The screen ... said ‘hard lockdown’ in big red words, and the top light started flashing,” said Layla Ferrell, a junior who was in a food and nutrition class in another hall.

Many thought it was a drill. Georgia schools are required to complete at least one active shooter drill by Oct. 1 each year.

“I thought it was fake until my friend told me it wasn’t fake,” King said. He added, “They weren’t really acting like it was real.”

Some heard what sounded like a loud, metallic crash.

“It sounded more like punching a locker at first,” Ferrell said.

But those in J Hall had no doubt.

Sayarath said that when the suspect tried to return to class, a student saw what warrants describe as “black semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle” and refused to let him in. Classroom doors at the school lock automatically and must be opened from inside, a “hardening” precaution in America’s era of school shootings.

Kaylee Abner, a sophomore, said a student who left her geometry class to take a test elsewhere came racing back.

“She ran back inside, shuts the door and then we hear three gunshots,” Abner said.

Junior Landon Culver got a glimpse of the shooter after leaving algebra II.

“I was walking out to get water and I heard gunshots and I heard bullets going like by my head,” Culver said. “It looked like he was wearing a black hoodie and he had a AR and, I just, I didn’t really stick around too long to look.”

Marques Coleman Jr. told The Washington Post that the shooter leaned inside an open door of his algebra classroom and sprayed it with gunfire, hitting people including Christian Angulo, who died. Others were shot in the hall.

Senior Kassidy Reed was retaking a test in a hallway when she heard shots from around the corner. A teacher told everyone to flee.

“He got us up and told us to run because our classroom door was shut and it was locked, so we couldn’t get in there,” Reed said.

A teacher across the hall opened the door to her chemistry classroom, and the students ran inside. “I hid under a lab table,” Reed said.

Teachers turned out lights and herded students into corners or behind desks. Classroom furniture became makeshift barricades.

“We put desks and chairs against our door and built it up so that nobody could get in, and then we were all just quiet, waiting,” Ferrell said.

Authorities say the suspect fatally shot students Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. The nine who were hurt — eight students and a teacher — are expected to recover.

One of the three school resource officers on campus quickly tracked down the shooter, who gave up and was taken into custody, the sheriff said.

Some students said they heard shouts from an officer ordering the shooter to halt and put his gun down.

“I heard the 'Get down! Get down! Don't move!' Reed said. Then, the sound of a “scuffle” as the suspect was handcuffed.

But the terror wasn't over.

Students said some students and teachers took off their clothes to try to stanch bleeding from gunshot wounds.

Deputies with guns drawn searched classroom by classroom for any more wounded, as well as any other possible shooters.

As students huddled, they called and texted each other and their parents. More than a few sent what they feared would be farewells.

“I love you. I love you so much. Ma I love you,” a crying Sandoval texted. “I’m sorry I’m not the best daughter. I love you.”

Sandoval’s mother wrote back in Spanish to say everything would be all right and she should trust in God.

“We started praying, because we didn’t know whether we would come out alive or not,” said Michelle Moncada, a freshman who was in art class.

Nearby, Sandoval said, another student was on the phone with their mother: “They’re shooting up the school! They’re shooting up the school!”

Abner held the hand of a boy who was praying.

“I was just trying to think happy thoughts, trying not to think anything negative,” she said.

The hundreds of panicked parents who raced to the school created a traffic jam along the two-lane roads near Apalachee High. Many abandoned their cars and ran toward campus.

Shannon Callahan, Ferrell's mother, said her daughter texted a photo of her barricaded under a table. “Once the texts stopped, I was 100% completely worried.”

During the evacuation, King saw the body of what appeared to a student on the floor. “They were blocking the body,” King said.

Abner also saw what appeared to be female student who had been shot, in the shoulder. She was leaning against a wall as emergency personnel attended to her.

Another female student was lying on the floor and covering her eyes, Abner said: “I don’t know if she was dead or shot or something, or just processing.”

Reed saw a gun on the floor, and blood.

As they fled, students abandoned bookbags, phones, even shoes. Ferrell lost her rainbow Crocs and later made the long walk to her mother's car in her socks.

Gathered inside the football stadium, students wept and milled around.

“Everyone is crying, everyone is walking around,” Moncada said. “They’re all running around trying to see who’s OK and who’s not.”

By early afternoon, students began to be released to parents to go home.

But Culver and others said the sound of gunfire will stick with them forever.

“You could hear gunshots, like just ringing out through the school,” Culver said. “And you’re just wondering, which one of those is going to be somebody that you’re best friends with or somebody that you love?”

Associated Press writer Charlotte Kramon contributed.

Apalachee High School is seen a day after a mass shooting occured at the school, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Mourners pray during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Mark Gorman holds a candle during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Two students view a memorial as the flags fly half-staff after a shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Mourners listen to a speaker during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

People gather at the flagpole outside the entrance to Apalachee High School on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 in Winder, Ga., a day after deadly shootings at the school. (AP Photo/Sharon Johnson)

Georgia Bureau of Investigation staff move through an entrance to Apalachee High School after Wednesday's shooting, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

The path for the NFL's Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C., the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK Stadium site," Harris said. "This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House's slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise's former home.

Bowser called it “a win for D.C., for our region and for America.”

“Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s D.C.’s story,” she said.

All that awaits is President Joe Biden's signature to become law. Comer went as far as saying that Senate passage of the bill is “a historic moment for our nation's capital.”

“If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” he said. “Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city, and I am proud to have partnered with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to get this bill across the finish line and to the president’s desk. This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.”

Playing in Washington again is no sure thing. The Commanders are considering places in the district, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years.

Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.

The team played at RFK Stadium 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.

Part of the way the provision got into the bill initially involved an agreement between the team and Maryland to tear down the current stadium in a timely fashion and redevelop the site with a project of equal economic impact, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity because the deal was not being publicized.

After the Senate greenlit the RFK Stadium land transfer, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, said they continued to believe their state's partnership with the team should continue long into the future.

“After working to level the financial playing field, and receiving assurances that should the team move they will redevelop the existing site in a manner that meets the needs of the community, tonight we supported the proposed land transfer legislation,” Cardin and Van Hollen said. "We have always supported the District’s effort to control its own land, and through regional discussions and cooperation, our concerns with this proposal have been addressed.”

The team has played games in Maryland since 1997 and practices in Ashburn, Virginia, not far from Dulles International Airport.

A return to the district would be another victory for Bowser, who on Thursday celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation that is keeping the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals in town. At that news conference, she took aim at Musk for sharing incorrect information on X, formerly Twitter, about taxpayers footing the bill for a new stadium.

“It was stated that the (continuing resolution) contains $3 billion for a stadium,” Bowser said. "All wrong. There are no federal dollars related to the transfer of RFK, and in fact the legislation does not require or link at all to a stadium. We’re talking about how the District can invest in removing blight.”

Musk reshared an inaccurate post saying: “Buried in the 1,547-page omnibus bill is a provision to facilitate a $3 billion NFL stadium in Washington, D.C." with the message, “This should not be funded by your tax dollars!”

The bill specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for a stadium on the site, “including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - A vehicle pushes up pikes of snow after trucks dump their loads of snow in the parking lots of RFK Stadium in Washington, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)