A 14-year-old boy shot and killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday, wounding nine others in what is the first mass school shooting of the new academic year. The suspect, Colt Gray, who had been previously investigated for online threats of committing a school shooting, was arrested shortly after the attack. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey confirmed that Gray would be tried as an adult. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith stated that Gray, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, surrendered immediately when confronted by school deputies. Sheriff Smith condemned the attack, calling it an act of "pure evil."

The FBI had previously investigated threats made by a 13-year-old in 2023, involving Gray, but no arrest was made at the time due to lack of probable cause. The shooting has reignited debates over gun control in the U.S. and drawn widespread grief. In response, residents of Winder, a town 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, held a prayer vigil, where local leaders urged unity and healing in the face of the tragedy.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident, expressing his sorrow and urging Republicans to join Democrats in passing "common-sense gun safety legislation." Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump also shared their condolences, with Harris calling for an end to gun violence. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, however, refrained from discussing policy, emphasizing the need to focus on mourning and investigation for now.

The attack is the first planned school shooting this fall, according to David Riedman of the K-12 School Shooting Database. The U.S. has seen hundreds of school shootings in the past two decades, including the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, which claimed over 30 lives, fueling the ongoing debate over gun laws and the Second Amendment.