The four victims of Wednesday's mass shooting in Winder, Ga., were crucial to the interwoven fabric of a high school. Some taught math and football. Others dreamed of what they would do one day as grownups. All of those who lost their lives in the Apalachee High School attack were loved in their families and community.
The violence came just after the school had completed its first month of the new school year. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified the dead as students Christian Angulo, 14, and Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
At least nine other people were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. The suspected killer, a 14-year-old, was taken into custody at the school. He had previously been investigated by federal and local agencies over “online threats to commit a school shooting,” according to the FBI.
Here’s what we know about the four victims who died:
Mason Schermerhorn
Mason had just started high school last month. Photos of him show a smiling young man wearing glasses. On a fundraising page, he is being remembered by his sister as a teenager who was funny and liked to tell jokes.
“Family members described Mason as someone who was always positive and always looked at the bright side of things. One of his favorite hobbies was playing video games on his PS5 and VR headset,” according to Atlanta TV station Fox 5.
Christian Angulo
Like Mason, Christian was a freshman at Apalachee.
“He was a very good kid and very sweet and so caring. He was so loved by many,” his oldest sister, Lisette, said as she launched a GoFundMe page to pay for her younger brother’s funeral.
“We are truly heartbroken,” she added, saying that while donations would help pay expenses related to his funeral, “We also would appreciate any prayers at this time.”
Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall
Aspinwall was a math teacher who also coached football at Apalachee. He and his wife, Shayna, formerly taught together at Mountain View High School. The couple have two young daughters.
Aspinwall’s friends and colleagues are mourning a well-liked and respected coach who specialized in defense. His former players describe him as a role model who took a deep interest in their futures.
“For me specifically, he believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. He pushed me to have high aspirations through the faith he had in me,” Marquel Broughton, one of his former players at Mountain View, told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “His love was genuine, and his heart was pure. His legacy will forever live on through those he touched. Coach A will forever be known as a hero.”
Cristina Irimie
Irimie, a math teacher at Apalachee High School, was loved by many and cared deeply for her students. Her loss is especially heartbreaking for Gabrielle Buth, one of her good friends.
Irimie's birthday just passed on Aug. 24, so to celebrate she baked a cake and brought pizza for her class on the day she died "so she could celebrate with her kids," Buth said. That is just the kind of person Irimie was, she said.
Irimie was born in Romania and still has family there, including a brother — who now has to tell their mother, who just had an emergency surgery last weekend, that her daughter has passed away, Buth said.
"The investigations are ongoing at the moment and we realize many of our questions may never be answered however we would love the world to know what a beautiful soul she was and how dedicated she was to her students," Buth wrote of her friend in a message to NPR. "She was so jovial and full of life. She always answered the phone (in Romanian) — 'Hello my love,' I can still hear her now — 'Da Iubita'. Cristina was a person who made you feel welcomed and important and she was so, SO funny. Just full of life."
The calling to become a teacher came to Irimie a few years ago, Buth said.
"Years ago, when she decided to go back to school to become a teacher we asked her why and she said she felt the calling to teach and care for children in her soul. Cristina and her husband were not able to have any biological children of their own so she decided to turn around and love her students as her own," she said.
Irimie kept close ties with the Romanian community and was especially integrated in the Atlanta Romanian Orthodox community, Buth said. She was even a traditional Romanian folk dancer, she added.
Her husband, Dorin, whom Irimie "loved" dancing with, "can not bring himself to understand why any of this has happened to his love," Buth said.
She continued, "We are all in shock. She was smart, vibrant, giving and beautiful — and to have one of her 'own' take her life is the most shocking thing to all this."
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