‘He was a great dad’: Community mourns Georgia high school shooting victims

Authorities said 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspenwall and Christina Irimie, were killed in the attack.

ATHENS, Ga. — A rural Georgia community is mourning the loss of four people who were killed Wednesday after a 14-year-old student opened fire at a high school — sending students and staff rushing to shelter in their classrooms as schools throughout the county went into lockdown.

The four victims killed were identified as two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, an Atlanta suburb of 18,300 people. The attack, which also injured eight students and one teacher, sent shock waves through the community.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey confirmed Wednesday night that 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, were killed in the shooting.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called the shooting “pure evil.”

“This hits home for me because I was born and raised here,” Smith said at an earlier news conference on Wednesday. “My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community, but I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Love will prevail over what happened today. I assure you of that.”

Hundreds of community members gathered in Jug Tavern Park in downtown Winder for a vigil on Wednesday night. Many held candles, bowing their heads down and holding each other as they prayed for the lives lost in the tragic shooting.

Here’s what we know so far about the victims:

Mason Shermerhorn, 14

The mother of Schermerhorn confirmed to WSB-TV Atlanta that her son was killed in the attack.

Schermerhorn was autistic and family members shared photos of him on social media when they couldn’t contact him after the shooting, according to the local television station.

Richard Aspinwall, 39

Aspinwall taught math at Apalachee High School and was the school football team’s defensive coordinator. Head coach Mike Hancock on Wednesday night was grieving Aspinwall’s loss for the Winder community and his family.

“He was a great dad, man, and a great father,” Hancock said. “He loved his two girls and he loved his wife. He did happen to love the game of football and he was well respected around this area.”

Aspinwall, a Rome native, was one of Hancock’s first hires when taking over Apalachee’s program last season when Aspinwall came from Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville to serve as the defensive coordinator.

“We’ve got a staff that’s hurting,” Hancock added. “This staff has been together for two years and Ricky has been a big part of it. It’s tough.”

Christina Irimie, 53

According to the Barrow County Schools website, Irimie was a math teacher at Apalachee High School.

Contributing: Sara Tidwell, Athens Banner-Herald