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.”