NATIONAL NEWS

Georgia official seeks more school safety money after Apalachee High shooting

Sep 16, 2024, 1:54 PM

Mourners carry the casket of Ana Cristina Irimie, a math teacher killed during a shooting at Apalac...

Mourners carry the casket of Ana Cristina Irimie, a math teacher killed during a shooting at Apalachee High School, after her funeral service at Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel and Gardens in Buford, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state school superintendent says he wants the state to spend more money to guarantee security officers and wearable panic alert buttons after a school shooting killed four at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta.

Richard Woods, a Republican elected statewide, also said Monday that he wants to expand a state-sponsored program to provide mental health care to students and to better share information about threats among police, schools and other agencies.

“It is crucial that we redouble our efforts to secure our schools and protect every student in our state,” Woods said in a statement.

Woods is the second statewide leader to make proposals following the the Sept. 4 shooting at the high school in Winder. His ideas on expanding mental health care and information sharing mirror those voiced last week by Republican state House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington.

Gov. Brian Kemp has said he would review any proposals but said the investigation is still turning up new information. A spokesperson for Republican Lt. Gov Burt Jones said he is preparing a response.

Democrats have been slamming Republicans, arguing that the shooting is an outgrowth of the GOP loosening Georgia’s gun laws. Woods didn’t propose any changes to gun laws.

Teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, died in the shooting. Nine others were injured — seven of them shot.

Investigators say the shooting was carried out by 14-year-old Colt Gray, who has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. Authorities charged his 54-year-old father, Colin Gray, with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Investigators allege Colin Gray gave his son access to a semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle when he knew the teen was a danger to himself and others.

Woods’ call for information sharing reflects the fact that Colt and his father were questioned in 2023 by a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy over an online post threatening a school shooting. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum has said her office didn’t find enough evidence to bring charges. It’s unclear if Colt Gray’s earlier schools were notified about the threats.

The superintendent also said he wants to expand mental health care for students. The state’s voluntary Apex program steers students toward counseling. The program covered 540,000 of Georgia’s 1.75 million students in 2022-2023, about 31%.

The state budget that began July 1 includes more than $100 million in ongoing funding for school security, enough to provide $47,000 a year to each public school for safety. Kemp and others have said they want that money to pay for at least one security officer for each school, but local superintendents have said the cost for to pay for a school resource officer is significantly higher. Woods said he wants the state to spend more money specifically for school resource officers and alert systems, but didn’t specify how much.

Georgia Department of Education spokesperson Meghan Frick said Woods “hopes to engage in an open discussion with lawmakers and other partners to determine more specific details, including the specifics of APEX expansion and record-sharing.

Burns also said last week that he wants to examine ways to catch guns before they enter schools, increase penalties for threats against schools, and said House Republicans would again promote safe firearm storage using a tax credit.

State Democrats gained little traction on legislation that would have created a misdemeanor crime for negligently failing to secure firearms accessed by children. Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, has promised to bring back that proposal.

National News

FILE - With the Florida results in his hand, Deputy Managing Editor David Scott, left, who helps ov...

Associated Press

News media don’t run elections. Why do they call the winners?

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s election night, the polls have closed and chances are you’re waiting on The Associated Press or one of the major television networks to say who will be the next president. But why does the news media play that role in the first place? Shouldn’t that be the government’s job? State and […]

21 minutes ago

Teams work to clean up piles of debris from Hurricane Helene flooding ahead of the arrival of Hurri...

Associated Press

As FEMA prepares for Hurricane Milton, it battles rumors surrounding Helene recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) — The rumors surrounding Hurricane Helene are many. There are false claims that people taking federal relief money could see their land seized. Or that $750 is the most they will ever get to rebuild. Or that the agency’s director — on the ground since the storm hit — was beaten up and […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Man charged with terroristic threats after saying he would ‘shoot up’ a synagogue

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man was charged with making terroristic threats for allegedly saying he would “shoot up” a Minneapolis synagogue. The 21 year old was charged Monday with misdemeanor assault and three felony counts of threatening violence. His public defender didn’t immediately return an Associated Press email and voice message requesting comment Tuesday. […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Judge declines bid by New Hampshire parents to protest transgender players at school soccer games

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday declined to grant an immediate order sought by some New Hampshire parents to allow them to wear pink wristbands with “XX” on them at girls high school soccer games to protest transgender girls playing. But the judge did rule that one father who had been banned […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas waits for results after swimming the women's 200 freestyle final a...

Associated Press

Georgia university leaders ask NCAA to ban transgender women from sports

ATLANTA (AP) — The regents who govern Georgia’s 26 public universities and colleges voted on Tuesday to ask the NCAA and another college athletic federation to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports. The unanimous vote came after Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican, vowed in August to pass legislation that would ban […]

2 hours ago

FILE - This undated photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state'...

Associated Press

South Carolina death row inmate told to choose between execution methods

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina prison officials told death row inmate Richard Moore on Tuesday that he can choose between a firing squad, the electric chair and lethal injection for his Nov. 1 execution. State law gives Moore until Oct. 18 to decide or by default he will be electrocuted. His execution would mark […]

2 hours ago

Georgia official seeks more school safety money after Apalachee High shooting