Four killed in Apalachee High School schooting

Lauryn Desai and Allison Pierce • September 24, 2024

Students mourn the loss of the Apalachee shooting victims. Photo courtesy: Elijah Nouvelage, CNN

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, was supposed to be a normal day at Apalachee High School until 10:26 a.m. when 14-year-old student Colt Gray was allegedly armed with a weapon trying to get into his class. After failing to gain access to his locked classroom, he went to another. That’s when students reported hearing multiple gunshots outside the door sending the school into lockdown. According to reports, four people -two students and two teachers- died and nine people were injured. The eight students and one teacher who were injured are all expected to survive.

Ronoldo Vega, a 14-year-old student from Apalachee High School was interviewed by CNN’s Ryan Young, Jade Gordon, and PJ Steve. He was asked about his experience with the shooting and about his injury.

Vega explained that he was in his second period math class when the shooting started and that the shooter fired around four to six times before going to another classroom. Vega said that he went to close the classroom door before the shooter “couldn’t come back.”

Vega said he went behind the teachers desk and that’s when he saw one of the bullets. That’s when he realized he was bleeding.

“I think it hit something and it hit me and I saw like a hole and then a little bit of blood on the side,” Vega told CNN. “I thought it was somebody else’s because I originally saw blood on the ground where I laid down.”

This tragic event left Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old, Richard Aspinwall, a teacher and coach, and Christina Irimie, a teacher, dead. After the shooting, students were greeted with rushing parents who were looking for their kids.

RCHS Student Mora Ibrahim said, “the school shooting in Georgia makes me feel like it’s about to be my last moment, and what goes through my mind is how I shouldn’t have taken what I had for granted, but also fear is all I feel.”

Gray was taken into custody to Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. Gray’s court investigation was held on Thursday, Sept. 5, where he was charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder. Gray’s trial is set to begin on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.

About the Contributors

Lauryn Desai, Student Life Editor

Lauryn Desai is a junior at RCHS, and this is her first year in journalism. She is a staff reporter in the newspaper, The Cat's Eye. Desai is currently on RCHS varsity volleyball. She works as an assistant coach at IMUA volleyball club. Every Sunday Desai loves to raid her mothers closet for new clothes. In her free time she enjoys burning cookies. Favorite Class English Enneagram Type 4

Allison Pierce, Staff Reporter

Allison Pierce is a freshman at RCHS, and this is her first year in journalism. She is a staff reporter for the school newspaper, The Cat’s Eye. The reason she joined journalism was because she loves writing and reporting. She hopes that she will be able to connect with the students and staff that way. When she is not at school working for the school paper, Pierce is off doing her extracurriculars, Soccer and Drums. She has been playing soccer for 11 years now, and Drums for 7 years. She also enjoys listening to music, going to church, writing poetry, and watching Grey’s Anatomy, drawing, and hanging out with friends.