(CN) — A 14-year-old student has been arrested in a shooting that killed four people at a Georgia high school Wednesday, an attack President Joe Biden called a “horrific reminder” of the violence wrought by guns in U.S. communities.
Nine people were also injured in the shooting, which was reported around 9:30 a.m. at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said on social media. Cell phone videos that circulated in the shooting's aftermath showed law enforcement officers escorting students from a darkened classroom as emergency vehicles ringed the rural campus that serves about 1,800 students.
Chris Hosey, the bureau's director, identified the suspect Wednesday afternoon as Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at the school, who surrendered to authorities after the attack. The teenager would be charged with murder as an adult, Hosey said.
Two adults and two students were killed in the attack, Hosey said.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters at a news conference he never imagined he would respond to such a tragedy, which he called "pure evil."
"My heart hurts for our community," he said. "But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this community. I want it to be very clear and known: The law will prevail over what happened today."
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement he would direct all available state resources to addressing the violence and asked residents to “join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms.”
The gunfire rang out amid a heated election season as firearms and their role in violent crime remains a critical issue for voters.
Sixty percent of Americans told the Pew Research Center in a survey last summer that gun violence was “a very big problem” and a similar number expected it would worsen in the next five years.
Americans were split on whether gun ownership increased safety or reduced it, with a significant partisan divide on the issue, the survey showed. Nearly 80% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said gun ownership increased safety. A nearly identical share of Democrats and Democratic leaners said the opposite.
In June, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning that gun violence posed a threat to public health as an increasing number of children and adolescents died from firearm-related injuries.
According to research reviewed by the surgeon general’s office, roughly 37 out of every 1 million Americans between the ages of 1 and 19 were killed by firearms in 2019. That figure vastly outpaces international statistics — Canada, the country with the second most firearm deaths among young people, came in at just around six per million.
Among the overall U.S. population, gun violence is the leading cause of death, topping car accidents, cancer and cardiovascular disease, the surgeon general found.
Vice President Kamala Harris called the shooting “outrageous” at a campaign rally in New Hampshire.
“Our kids are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential, and some part of their big beautiful brain is concerned about a shooter busting through the door of their classroom,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “It does not have to be this way.”
In a statement, Biden mourned the deaths of students whose lives were cut short due to “senseless gun violence.”
“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” the president said. “Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”
Biden called on Republicans in Congress to support “common-sense” gun safety legislation, including a new ban on semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines; firearm storage requirements; universal background checks; and repeal of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects gun manufacturers from legal liability.
“These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart,” Biden said.
Former President Donald Trump said on social media his heart was with the victims and loved ones impacted by the shooting.
“These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster," the Republican presidential candidate said.
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