CBS News
Student returning to class during Georgia school shooting describes hearing gunshots: “It didn’t feel real”
One day after a school shooting in Georgia left four people dead and nine hospitalized with injuries, students at Apalachee High School are coping with the losses.
Isaac Sanguma, a student at the school, told “CBS Mornings” he was walking back to class at the time of the shooting and didn’t realize at first that the sounds he heard were gunshots.
“I think I heard a ‘boom boom,’ but at first, it wasn’t like a gunshot, like it didn’t come in my mind that this was a gunshot,” Sanguma said. “My instinct was just to run back to class.”
Sanguma said the terrifying moment “didn’t feel real.”
The victims were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. Aspinwall and Irimie were both math teachers, according to the school’s website.
The suspect was identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the school, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He was taken into custody alive. The alleged shooter will be charged with murder and “handled” as an adult, GBI Director Chris Hosey said. Gray is currently being held at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center in Georgia, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice told CBS News.
Over a year ago, Georgia police interviewed Gray, then 13 years old, regarding tips about online posts threatening a school shooting. Gray denied the allegations. His father was also interviewed and said he had hunting guns in their home, but his teenage son did not have “unsupervised access to them,” FBI Atlanta said.
Authorities have not said how Gray acquired the gun used in Wednesday’s shooting.
Honoring the victims
One of the victims, Irimie, was Sanguma’s math teacher. He said he spoke to her on Wednesday morning, and she encouraged him to get to class on time. He also said she told “corny jokes” and was kind.
“I didn’t know that was going to be my last time seeing her and talking to her,” he said.
The high school junior described Irimie as welcoming and said she always worked to give students confidence.
“I just can’t believe my teacher, somebody I see every day … it just don’t feel real.”
CBS News
9/15: CBS Weekend News – CBS News
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What’s known about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in possible Trump assassination attempt
A picture is emerging of the suspect who officials say pointed a high-powered rifle at former president Donald Trump on a Florida golf course Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was 300-500 yards away from Trump when members of the former president’s Secret Service detail spotted him, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Routh was a few holes ahead of where the president was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, officials said.
Members of the Secret Service detail opened fire at Routh, according to law enforcement officials. It’s not clear if Routh fired any shots. Bradshaw said a witness saw a man jumping out of the bushes and fleeing in a black Nissan. The car was pulled over and the driver detained and identified as the suspect. Law enforcement found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera in the bushes at the scene.
The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
As the investigation continues, here’s what we know about Routh:
A decades-long criminal history
Routh’s most recent address is listed in Hawaii, but he spent most of his life in North Carolina, according to property records. Routh owned Camp Box Honolulu, a shed-building company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The account also says that he studied at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and graduated in 1998.
Records show his problems with the law go back to the 1990s and include less serious charges, like writing bad checks. But in 2002, he was charged with a felony — possession of a weapon of mass destruction — according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records.
Between 2002 and 2010, Routh was also charged with a number of misdemeanors, including a hit-and-run accident, resisting arrest and a concealed weapons violation, records show.
Suspect criticized Trump online
Routh voted Democratic in the 2024 primary election in North Carolina, and he voted in person, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. He appears to be registered as an unaffiliated voter.
His X account, which has now been suspended, included a number of posts about Trump.
“@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106, I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote in a June 2020 post. “I will be glad when you gone.”
He also referenced the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in multiple posts, suggesting that President Biden and Vice President Harris should visit the injured and attend the funeral of the Pennsylvania rally-goer who was killed.
A Facebook account under Routh’s name was no longer online on Sunday evening.
Ukraine supporter
Routh was passionate about fighting for Ukraine, even traveling overseas to fight in the country’s war against Russia in 2022.
“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your kids and families and democracy.. I will come and die for you,” he wrote on X.
In one post on LinkedIn, he shared a photo of himself in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
A CBS News review of Routh’s social media shows his pro-Ukraine views seeped into his public statements as well. He urged people, even those who didn’t have military skills, to take up arms for Ukraine. He was interviewed by several news organizations, including The New York Times and Semafor in 2023, and Newsweek Romania in 2022. He was quoted about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, though it wasn’t clear whether he had succeeded.
“This is about good versus evil,” he told Newsweek Romania.
contributed to this report.
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