TRANSCRIPT
Classes are cancelled at Apalachee High School in Georgia - but there's a steady stream of people coming by.
Among them is Kassidy Reed.
"It was me and four other students in that class. And we heard seven shots around the corner from where we were sitting... And luckily, a teacher across the hall had opened her door. And we ran in there. I hid under a lab table because it was a chemistry classroom. So they had the big tables. I hid under the table and there was a girl beside me. And we just - we prayed. She held - I held her cross necklace with her."
Authorities allege a fourteen year old student at the school named Colt Gray is responsible for the shooting, which they say he carried out using a semi-automatic assault style rifle.
He's been charged with four counts of murder.
But Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey says the teen's father will also face court.
"With District Attorney Brad Smith, the GBI has arrested Colin Gray, age 54, in connection to the shooting here at Apalachee High School. Colin is Colt Gray's father that was arrested yesterday. He is charged with the following: four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children. Mr Gray - these charges stem from Mr Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon."
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith says the investigation into the shooting has already uncovered some troubling facts.
The father and son were both interviewed in May last year in connection with online threats about a school shooting.
But the Grays told the Jackson County Sheriff's Department they weren't responsible - and the father assured the police his son did not have access to the hunting guns he had in the house.
The Sheriff says the whole incident has now assumed a personal significance for him.
"This hits home for me. I was born and raised here. I went to school in the school system. My kids go to the school system... My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for our community."
The Georgia attack was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.
They have consistently revived debate about gun control in the United States.
Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy says that in Georgia, the gun laws are permissive - and they've been getting progressively looser.
For example, you no longer have to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon in the state, and Georgia does not have a red flag law despite questions about whether law enforcement's contact with the shooter should have indicated that they should have taken some action, like taking guns away... Because this is a Republican majority state, most Republicans are hostile to traditional forms of gun control... A committee met Thursday to try to discuss ways forward on safe storage. That meeting was already scheduled before what happened here at the high school. But there are real issues on whether Republicans and Democrats can agree on an approach to reach some sort of compromise."
Those kinds of disagreements are also playing out on the national stage, months before a consequential national election.
For J.D. Vance, the running mate of Republican Donald Trump, it's a time for reflection.
"What happened in Georgia is just an awful tragedy... We got to think about these people. If you're the praying type, and I know I am, we ought to hold them up in prayer. We got to be hoping for the best for these - for this incredible community. Because no parent should have to deal with this. No child should have to deal with this."
Tim Walz is the Democratic V-P candidate.
He's told supporters at a Pennsylvania campaign rally he's sick of hearing about prayer as a response to mass killings.
"I'm going to give due to the Republican Party of our grandfathers and fathers - a Republican party, when they talked about freedom... We believe in the freedom to send our kids to school without being shot dead in the hall... And it's a reminder in the rest of the country: we've got work to do and I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing about thoughts and prayers rather than actually doing something."
Current US President Joe Biden has also weighed in to the debate.
He has flagged several changes, including universal background checks, and the ending of immunity from prosecution for gun manufacturers.
The President says the nation cannot continue to accept the "carnage" of gun violence.
"Some of my Republican friends in Congress just finally have to say to say enough is enough. We have to do something. Together, let's ban assault weapons. My dad was a hunter. I don't know a whole hell of a lot of deer wearing Kevlar vests. I'm serious about this. High capacity magazines. Once again, what do we need them for in terms of domestic use? There are too many people who are able to access guns that shouldn't be able to.”]
But J.D Vance has told reporters at a rally in Arizona that school shootings are now a fact of life.
He says school resources are the best way to confront them.
"If you're if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realise that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools, so that a person who walks through the front door - we've got to bolster security so that if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they're not able to... We've got to be prepared for it. We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality that we live in and we got to deal with it."
Jeff Amy says Georgia already funds school security.
"Georgia has spent a lot of money on school safety. The state has given out more than $180 million in one-time grants, and starting on July 1st of this year, Georgia began including more than $100 million a year in ongoing funding in its school funding formula for school districts to spend on school safety. The idea is that every district will get $45,000 for each of their schools."
Vance's proposal isn't good enough for Tim Walz either.
"I say this to all of you, I know guns. I'm a veteran. I'm a hunter. We can't let them make this just about the Second Amendment. I defend the Second Amendment. But our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe... They (the Republicans) spend their time banning books instead of banning assault weapons. That is crap. That's crap."
Back in Georgia, the students and community are trying to move on.
But a resident near the high school, Linda Carter, says there's a sense of frustration at the situation.
"This happened again? That's what was going through my head. I'm over it. I’m over it.”
The students are also having a difficult time.
Kassidy Reed says she's finding it hard to sleep.
"The first thing you wake up and think about is like somebody's lost- like the coach their dad, somebody lost like their dad. Somebody lost like their best friend. Like it's-just the first. Like, I don't think I can wake up and not think about it again."
