On September 4th, 2024, tragedy struck at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. 14-year-old Colt Gray left his algebra class and returned moments later. When he knocked at the door, a classmate of his looked through the glass to see who it was. She saw that he had a gun and backed away from the door. Gray turned to another classroom and opened fire, shooting 10-15 rounds, according to students. Colt Gray took the lives of four people, including two teachers and two students, injuring nine others who are all expected to survive. Multiple students have said during interviews that Gray was the stereotypical person you would “expect” to be a school shooter. Police had previously interviewed Gray after seeing a threatening post on social media that Gray claimed was a joke.
Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray, allowed Colt to have a gun after already knowing that his son was considered a threat to himself and others, according to Colt’s mother. As such, Colin Gray is the second person ever in the United States where a parent is being charged for something his child did. The first time a situation like this happened was November 4th, 2023, in Oakland, Michigan, and both parents were arrested for their son's actions. Colin Gray is being charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colt Gray is being charged with four counts of felony murder. Before the shooting, Colt had sent texts to his parents saying “I’m sorry” and “you’re not to blame for this.” When his mother found out about the shooting, she was distraught. "What happened to them and their sweet, innocent babies is just unfathomable," she said. "If I could take their place, I would. I would in a heartbeat." She had also mentioned that six days earlier she had called the school, letting them know that she wanted Colt to go to inpatient therapy.
The victims of this shooting were Christian Angulo, age 14, Mason Schermerhorn, age 14, Cristina Irimie, age 53, and Richard Aspinwall, age 39. Members of the Winder community lost their family members, friends, teachers, football coaches, and so much more. The community has held many candlelight services to honor the lost ones.
Cristina Irimie was not only a dedicated educator of algebra and dance; she was also an extraordinarily kind teacher. On the day of the fatal shooting, she had brought pizza and a homemade cake to enjoy with her students to celebrate her birthday. Irimie and her husband couldn’t have children, but she considered her students her own. Richard Aspinwall was a beloved coach and teacher to many of the students. Many students called him their role model. As Gray fired his gun, Aspinwall had gone into the hallway to see what was happening and was shot. Multiple students ripped their shirts off in hopes of stopping the blood and saving his life.
The Apalachee School Shooting poses the question: if teachers as selfless and kind as Irimie and Aspinwall could be killed in such a horrific way, why would others want to be teachers? Future educators across the country have made comments on social media about how they feel that even if they’re perfect in the classroom, they still could be putting their lives on the line. Additionally, many educators ask why pay, with an average starting salary of $44,530, is still so low despite the possibility of having to risk their lives.
Many future educators as well as current educators are questioning what this means for their careers. There are so many questions circling through social media platforms among educators. Should contracts dictate that educators have to do everything in their power to protect their students? How does one morally decide to save student lives if one has a family at home? Will teachers have to start flagging students they see as a threat? With these worries circulating through the education system, it is no wonder that there is a teacher shortage in this country. Many teachers across the nation say that we should be taking threats seriously by putting metal detectors in school entrances and requiring students to have mesh or clear backpacks. As much as parents want to ask how teachers didn’t identify students who became school shooters sooner, how can one ask them to point out students who they think could hurt someone like this? By asking teachers to do nearly impossible tasks and paying them next to nothing for the amount of work they do, we only make the jobs of future educators more difficult and relieve the responsibility of the parents of the perpetrator and the perpetrator.