1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:02,766 AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour." 2 00:00:02,766 --> 00:00:05,300 Georgia is mourning the lives of four people killed in a high 3 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:08,366 school shooting yesterday. Nine others were injured. 4 00:00:08,366 --> 00:00:12,066 GEOFF BENNETT: Today, reports of the 14-year-old suspect's past run-ins 5 00:00:12,066 --> 00:00:16,000 with law enforcement raised even more questions about his motive, 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:21,000 how he got access to a gun and how potential warning signs went unaddressed. 7 00:00:22,666 --> 00:00:26,033 At Apalachee High School, some students returned today to grieve 8 00:00:26,033 --> 00:00:31,033 at a makeshift memorial, a quiet morning after yesterday's tragedy. 9 00:00:32,533 --> 00:00:36,333 MAN: Bless us and walk with us each day as we go forward. 10 00:00:38,833 --> 00:00:41,433 GEOFF BENNETT: The community gathered for a vigil last night after a 14-year-old student opened fire 11 00:00:43,566 --> 00:00:46,666 outside his algebra classroom. Four people, two students and two teachers, were killed. 12 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,066 Those who survived still processing what they'd witnessed hours earlier. 13 00:00:52,066 --> 00:00:55,100 LANDON CULVER, Student: You could hear gunshots just ringing out through the school. And, like, 14 00:00:55,100 --> 00:00:57,633 you're just wondering which one of those is going to be somebody 15 00:00:57,633 --> 00:00:59,933 that you're like best friends with or somebody that you love. 16 00:00:59,933 --> 00:01:03,200 GURAY CHAPMAN, Student: I still don't believe this is real. Like, 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,500 I knew a girl that got shot in her leg, and it really broke me, 18 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:12,500 because she was like a sister to me. And I don't know how to react to it. 19 00:01:15,100 --> 00:01:19,433 GEOFF BENNETT: Students recounted ducking for cover in their classrooms as gunshots rang through 20 00:01:19,433 --> 00:01:24,433 the hallway. Within minutes, officials say, the shooter surrendered to school resource officers. 21 00:01:26,433 --> 00:01:31,000 Questions remain about how the teenage gunman obtained an assault-style rifle, as 22 00:01:33,233 --> 00:01:36,100 more information emerges about his past encounters with law enforcement. In May 2023, the FBI traced 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:43,033 online posts from an individual threatening to shoot up a middle school, according to multiple 24 00:01:43,033 --> 00:01:48,000 news reports. That led authorities to the youth, who was then 13. He denied making those comments. 25 00:01:49,966 --> 00:01:54,433 His father insisted his son did not have access to hunting guns kept inside their 26 00:01:54,433 --> 00:01:59,400 house. Authorities alerted nearby schools to monitor him, but he was not arrested or further 27 00:02:01,766 --> 00:02:05,200 detained. In a home search yesterday, according to The New York Times, police found evidence 28 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:10,733 that the gunman was -- quote -- "obsessed" with the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. 29 00:02:13,066 --> 00:02:16,600 He's set to appear in court virtually tomorrow. Among his victims, two 14-year-old students, 30 00:02:18,833 --> 00:02:22,400 Mason Schermerhorn, whose family described him as a lighthearted teen and a lover of Disney World, 31 00:02:24,333 --> 00:02:28,466 Christian Angulo, whose friends called him a free spirit with a chill attitude, 32 00:02:28,466 --> 00:02:32,400 and two faculty members, 53-year-old Christina Irimie, 33 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,400 a devoted math teacher described as patient and caring, and 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall. He 34 00:02:39,266 --> 00:02:43,133 also taught math and coached football as the team's defensive coordinator. 35 00:02:43,133 --> 00:02:48,133 ISAIAH HOOKS, Student: Coach was an amazing guy. He pushed us to be great at what we 36 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:55,266 did for our team. So it was really hard to lose someone that pushed himself to really 37 00:03:00,133 --> 00:03:04,366 make us better and to make sure that we're better at what we do. 38 00:03:04,366 --> 00:03:07,066 GEOFF BENNETT: Apalachee joins a long list of American schools 39 00:03:07,066 --> 00:03:09,500 that now bear the scars of gun violence. 40 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:12,833 And it's the 30th mass killing of 2024, 41 00:03:12,833 --> 00:03:17,833 in which four or more people are murdered in a 24-hour period, as defined by the FBI. 42 00:03:19,700 --> 00:03:23,633 Such incidents have claimed at least 127 American lives this year alone.