An Apalachee High School teacher posted a heartfelt thanks on social media to students and a faculty member who helped save his life after a mass shooting at his Georgia school.
In a Facebook message posted on Sunday, Sept. 15, David Phenix, a teacher at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., praised “those who, in the course of all the chaos, found it in themselves to take my life in their hands.”
The Sept. 4 attack killed two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Nine others, including Phenix, were injured in the attack that was allegedly carried out by 14-year-old Colt Gray.
The suspect has been charged with four counts of murder.
A poster with images of shooting victims from left, Cristina Irimie, Mason Schermerhorn, Richard Aspinwall and Christian Angulo is displayed at a memorial outside Apalachee High School, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Winder, Ga.
AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon
According to a student who spoke to CNN, Phenix was struck by gunfire but was still able to close his classroom door, preventing the shooter from entering.
In his post, Phenix, who said he was shot in the side and foot, thanked a fellow math teacher who “managed to put pressure on my wound while, at same time, managing and calming a class of 23 scared, terrified, and panicked teenagers,” as well as two 14-year-old students who helped pressurize his wound while his colleague called for help.
Phenix also praised the first responders “involved in stopping this horrible event that would have been much worse had you not been there” and the hospital staff who treated him.
He also thanked his family, “whose love has remained constant, steadfast, and unwavering through all of this.”
“To put into words the events of these past days escape all description,” he wrote. “The images, sights, sounds, and actions are immense and will be forever etched in my memory and will take weeks, months, and even years to process…From anger to mourning to sadness to gratefulness to even feeling blessed to be able to sit here and write this post, processing the reasons behind September 4th will be a long road which will most likely, never be truly understood.”
The suspect’s father Colin Gray was also arrested and charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Colin’s charges stem from “Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” authorities alleged at a Sept. 5 press conference.
