Students return to Apalachee High School weeks after school shooting

Students poured into Apalachee High School on Tuesday for their first day of class after a school shooting killed two of their peers and two teachers and injured nine other people almost three weeks ago at the campus northeast of Atlanta.

The sun was still rising as buses with windows painted to read “CHEE STRONG” and “Love will prevail" looped around the school's entrance. Georgia State Patrol cars and sheriff vehicles weaved their way through traffic as students turned into parking lots.

Police say 14-year-old student Colt Gray slipped out of math class on the morning of Sept. 4 with an AR-15-style rifle given to him by his father. Within minutes, sounds of gunshots rippled across the hall, and students crouched behind desks as teachers barricaded classroom doors. The school went into lockdown. Some students saw bodies as police officers led them to the football field, where others bled from the grazing of a bullet.