ATLANTA, GA (TIP): A 14-year-old boy killed two fellow students and two teachers and wounded nine others in a shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday, September 4, jolting the United States with the first mass campus shooting since the start of the school year.
The suspect, who had been interviewed by law enforcement last year over online threats about committing a school shooting, was taken into custody shortly after the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, investigators said.
He was identified as Colt Gray, 14, and will be charged and tried as an adult, Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told a press conference.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said the gunman, armed with an “AR platform style weapon,” or semiautomatic rifle, was quickly confronted by deputies assigned to the school and that the suspect immediately got on the ground and surrendered. Once under arrest the suspect was speaking with investigators, who believe he was acting alone, but they declined to say if they knew what motivated him.
Officials identified those killed as two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. All nine of those hospitalized were expected to recover, Smith told reporters.
“Pure evil did what happened today,” Smith said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation later issued a statement revealing that it had investigated online threats to commit a school shooting in 2023 and local law enforcement interviewed a 13-year-old subject and his father in nearby Jackson County. The statement did not identify the teen, but Georgia officials said the statement was in connection to the subject in custody.
“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject,” the FBI said, adding that there was no probable cause to make an arrest.
The shooting revived both the national debate about gun control and the outpouring of grief that follows in a country where such outbursts occur with some regularity.
People in Winder, a city of 18,000 some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Atlanta, gathered in a park for a prayer vigil later Wednesday night.
Some leaned on each other or bowed their heads in prayer, while others lit candles to honor the dead.
“We are all hurting. Because when something affects one of us it affects us all,” said Power Evans, a city councilman who addressed the gathering. “I know that here tonight, all of are going to come together. We’re going to love on one another. …We’re all family. We’re all neighbors.”
The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting “and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information.”
“Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed,” Biden said in a statement, calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to pass “common-sense gun safety legislation.” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee for president, called the shooting a “senseless tragedy.” “We’ve gotta stop it. We have to end this epidemic of gun violence,” Harris said at the start of a campaign event in New Hampshire.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, wrote on social media that “Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA. These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster.”
Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp, asked at a press conference what could be done to prevent shootings, said, “Today is not the day for politics or policy. Today is the day for an investigation, to mourn these precious Georgians that we have lost.”
The shooting was the first “planned attack” at a school this fall, said David Riedman, who runs the K-12 School Shooting Database. Apalachee students returned to school last month; many other students in the US are returning this week.
The US has seen hundreds of shootings inside schools and colleges in the past two decades, with the deadliest resulting in over 30 deaths at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carnage has intensified the pitched debate over gun laws and the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which enshrines the right “to keep and bear arms.”
(Agencies)
Tag: Georgia
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Georgia high school shooting: 14-year-old kills 4, arrested
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Three white men found guilty of murdering African American Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Travis McMichael, who shot Ahmaud Arbery, his father Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, who took part in the chase, were all convicted of multiple counts of murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. A predominantly white jury in Brunswick, Georgia, deliberated for less than 12 hours over two days before delivering their verdicts. Travis, 35, Gregory, 65, a retired police officer, and Bryan, 52, face potential life in prison for the February 2020 shooting of the 25-year-old Arbery.
The judge did not schedule sentencing today, but he said he plans to set a date in the coming weeks.
Here’s a breakdown of each of the counts that defendants were charged with in the case, along with the maximum penalties:
Count 1: Malice murder
Maximum penalty: Life without the possibility of parole
Count 2: Felony murder (Felony offense: Aggravated assault with a firearm)
Count 3: Felony murder (Felony offense: Aggravated assault with pickup trucks)
Count 4: Felony murder (Felony offense: False imprisonment)
Count 5: Felony Murder (Felony offense: Criminal attempt to commit a felony)
Maximum penalty for any of the four charges: Life without the possibility of parole
Count 6: Aggravated assault (with firearms)
Count 7: Aggravated assault (with pickup trucks)
Maximum penalty: 20 years
Count 8: False imprisonment
Maximum penalty: 10 years
Count 9: Criminal attempt to commit a felony
Maximum penalty: Five years
A crowd erupted in cheers outside the courthouse as the verdict was announced, chanting: “Say his name. Ahmaud Arbery!” “Today is a good day,” Arbery’s father, Marcus, told the gathering. “I don’t want to see no daddy watch their kid get lynched and shot down like that.”
President Biden reacted to the guilty verdicts in the trial of three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery, saying that it “ensures that those who committed this horrible crime will be punished.”
“While the guilty verdict reflects our justice system doing its job, that alone is not enough,” Biden said in a statement.
“Instead, we must recommit ourselves to building a future of unity and shared strength, where no one fears violence because of the color of their skin,” the President said. Biden said Arbery “should be here today” celebrating the holidays with his family, pledging that his administration will continue to work for equal justice.
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Indian-origin schoolgirl youngest on UK team for Europe Math Olympiad
LONDON (TIP): A 13-year-old Indian-origin schoolgirl has become the youngest to be selected for the UK team which will compete at the prestigious European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad to be hosted by the eastern European country of Georgia next month.
Aanya Goyal, a student of Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, South London, used the extended period of lockdown last year to throw herself further into her passion for mathematical problem solving.
With the help of her math coach and former Math Olympian father, Amit Goyal, she focused on a series of exams organized by the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) to select the British team for the EGMO.
“The Olympiad problems are all about being creative and digging deep. Sometimes a problem can take many days to solve but it is all about not giving up easily and to keep coming up with new ideas,” said Aanya.
Over 6,00,000 secondary school students across the UK appear for the UKMT challenges every year and only the top 1,000 are invited to the British Mathematical Olympiad in November each year. Of these, the top 100 are invited to Round 2 of the British Mathematical Olympiad in January – a three-and-a-half-hour competition comprising four challenging problems.
Aanya went on to achieve a Distinction and was ranked among the top four girls to be selected for the UK team for the EGMO, also becoming the youngest – a record held by a 15-year-old until now.
“Math means problem-solving. Before I started school and in primary, I did a lot of puzzles, crosswords, sudoku variants and kakuro etc. In secondary, I did code breaking, cypher challenges, chess, and linguistics,” said the schoolgirl, who is excited about not only making the cut for the team but also being selected alongside one of her role models, Yuhka Machino, recognized as the world’s best female mathematician.
As someone exempt from normal math lessons at school, Aanya’s entire focus is on specialized math problem-solving and she hopes to inspire others to overcome the view that math is a tough subject.
“Many students do not give math a real chance. The adults keep repeating that math is tough and that is what people of my age have heard all their life, so a few of them adopt it as a reality,” the teenager reflects.
“In England, adults constantly joke about being bad at math, creating low expectations so many students think it is ok to be bad at math. The more you practice, not only does math become easier, but it also becomes more exciting and rewarding. But if you approach math without confidence and a real heart then it can become pointless and cold,” she says.
As someone who has had regular success at Math Olympiads, including winning a gold medal at the UKMT Junior Math Olympiad three years ago when she was still at primary school, her entire focus now is on winning a medal for the UK at the EGMO.
“I do math for the joy I get out of it and not for any career goals. I will study math at university, but my career choices include law and politics,” adds Aanya, who also happens to be on a shortlist of 50 from which the UK team for the International Linguistics Olympiad, to be held in Latvia in July, will be selected next month.
Meanwhile, the Londoner is preparing for the EGMO in Georgia, which has been transformed into a hybrid event due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions with individual countries deciding whether to travel or to participate remotely. The UK has chosen the remote option, with the British team likely to gather in one location for the competition.
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Indian American Attorney Shot Dead in Georgia
ATLANTA (TIP): An Indian origin senior staff attorney at Cobb County Magistrate was shot and killed May 9 morning while confronting a gunman outside a home in Locust Grove, a report in Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
Rajesh Mehta, 45, was shot multiple times by 29-year-old Terrance Scott outside the home on Hansen Drive, said police.
Following the fatal shooting, Scott allegedly broke into the house, held a woman hostage and sexually assaulted her before an hours long standoff with officers, Locust Grove Police Chief Jesse Patton said. Children were inside the home at the time.
Mehta worked as the staff attorney for three separate chief magistrate judges since joining the court in 2008. Prior to that, the University of Georgia law school graduate worked under Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark.
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An Indian American dead and another critical in Georgia shootings
NEW YORK (TIP): Two Indian Americans, Parmjit Singh, 44, and Parthey Patel, 30, were the victims of a shooting that happened at two different gas stations and convenience stores in Rome, Georgia, according to a myajc.com report.
Singh was pronounced dead at the scene while Patel is still in critical condition, according to myajc.com.
Police say that Lamar Rashad Nicholson, 28, walked into the Hi-Tech Quick Stop on Burnett Ferry Road on the night of Feb. 6 a little before 9 p.m. and walked “right up to the counter pulls a gun out of his right pocket, fires 3 rounds, and runs out, he’s in and out in under 12 seconds,” Floyd County Police Sgt. William Wacker told Fox News.
Police added that there was no robbery or altercation.
Ten minutes later, Nicholson got into his car, drove a mile and a half down the road and entered Elm Street Food and Beverage, another convenience store, stealing some money before shooting Patel, according to myajc.com.
“For whatever reason after he stuffed his pockets full of money he shot the clerk anyway,” Rome Police Lt. John Walters told Fox News.
According to Fox News, while Patel was being rushed to the hospital, police spotted Nicholson in his car less than two miles away, along with a pistol and some money on the seat.
According to myajc.com, Nicholson was arrested on multiple charges including murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm while committing a crime and use of a firearm by a convicted felon though he was not charged with robbery in Singh’s shooting; he is being held without bond in the Floyd County jail.
Nicholson, a convicted felon, was arrested just a few weeks ago for violently snatching up his 3-year-old daughter by the arm, according to a report from the Floyd County sheriff’s office. He faced charges of child cruelty, disorderly conduct and simple battery in connection with that incident.
Friends of Singh, who was also known as “Remi,” dropped off balloons and flowers in front of his store and prayed for his two children who are in high school.
“That’s the sad part, they’ve got to grow up the rest of their lives without a dad because someone wanted to take their anger out on him,” Michael Dykes, a friend, told Fox News.
Singh’s brother-in-law, Harry Singh, remembered him as a “personable man who was friendly with everyone he met.”
“Whenever we all sit down and have a family get-together, he’s always the center of attention. He’s the one who tells us stories and jokes,” Harry Singh told myajc.com.
Harry told myajc.com that his brother-in-law started out driving limousines in New York before moving to Michigan to get into the convenience store business.
“He moved to Georgia about five years ago to be closer to family and ended up owning two stores in Rome, one on Martha Berry Boulevard and another on Burnett Ferry Road, where he died. He and his wife of 20 years had just bought a house, one of his lifetime goals. He was a very hardworking man and worked 14 hours a day,” Harry told myajc.com.
Singh’s customers paid a tribute to him on Facebook, remembering his as “a kind and polite man who enjoyed joking with his customers.”
Florence McCain, one of Singh’s customers, told myajc.com that his family had just bought and renovated the Burnett Ferry store in September.
“They were just so nice, the whole family. I was kidding with him just a couple of weeks ago,” McCain said.
Daniela Comacho told myajc.com that she shopped at the Hi Tech Quick Stop specifically because of Singh’s kindness.
“I liked to go, not because it was close by but because of how nice of a person he was. He was always interested in knowing that everyone was having a good day,” Comacho said.