Georgia high school shooting: What we know about the four victims
(WINDER, Ga.) — A Georgia community is in mourning after two students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning, according to authorities.
Another nine victims were taken to hospitals with injuries, but are all expected to survive, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.
The suspect, a 14-year-old student, is in custody and will be tried as an adult, the GBI said.
Hosey identified the four victims Wednesday evening, whose ages ranged from 14 to 53 years old. Here is what we know about the four victims killed:
Mason Schermerhorn
Mason Schermerhorn was a 14-year-old student at the high school, according to the GBI.
Christian Angulo
Christian Angulo was a 14-year-old student at the high school, according to the GBI.
Richard Aspinwall
Richard Aspinwall was a 39-year-old teacher at Apalachee High School, according to the GBI.
Aspinwall was a math teacher who also coached football as the defensive coordinator, according to the school’s website.
Christina Irimie
Christina Irimie was a 53-year-old math teacher at Apalachee High School, according to the GBI.
(REDLANDS, Calif.) — Police have arrested a man in connection with the search for a couple missing from a nudist community in California.
Michael Sparks, 62, was arrested for murder late Thursday, days after the couple were reported missing, according to the Redlands Police Department. Police had been trying to locate Sparks on Thursday, breaching a home and conducting a search using remote video equipment to find him.
Sparks was not found at the home, but he was the same person who was being sought in the search, police said.
He has been booked murder at West Valley Detention Center.
Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, were reported missing on Sunday, according to police. During a press briefing on Thursday, the Redlands Police Department said foul play was suspected after being tipped off by a source in the couple’s neighborhood.
The location of the couple and their dog remains unknown, police said.
The couple was last seen at their residence on Olive Dell Ranch — a family nudist resort — at around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. Their unlocked vehicle was found down the road from the residence that day, according to police.
Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their residence along with both of their cellphones, according to police.
The couple’s dog, a white Shih Tzu named Cuddles, was also missing.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — The 29-year-old daughter of a former longtime MLB pitcher has been missing since last week after visiting a bar with her ex-boyfriend, according to police.
Brenna Swindell, the daughter of Greg Swindell, was last seen on Aug. 22 at Poodies Hilltop Bar in Spicewood, Texas, outside Austin, according to the Austin Police Department.
Swindell was at the bar at about 10:20 p.m. with her ex-boyfriend, Morgan Guidry, who has also not been seen since Thursday. Both of their cellphones have been off since Friday, police said.
Swindell is about 5-foot-4 and approximately 120 to 140 pounds, according to Austin police. She has brown hair and hazel eyes and tattoos on both arms.
Police identified a vehicle she might be traveling in — a white 2022 Kia Carnival minivan with Texas license plate VFS 7528 — and said she was “possibly seen” in Colorado Springs or Denver.
Police did not offer further information, but a post on Greg Swindell’s Facebook said that a license plate reader in Colorado flagged the Kia, owned by Brenna Swindell, on Friday night. Greg Swindell posted on his X account that people should be on the lookout for the vehicle in Idaho as well.
“Ms. Swindell has not been in usual contact with her family and friends,” Austin police wrote in a statement. “APD is concerned about her safety and immediate welfare.”
Greg Swindell played 17 seasons in the majors as a starting pitcher early in his career and later as a relief pitcher. He played for six different teams, including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Houston, Minnesota, Boston and Arizona. He finished his career with a record of 123-122 and a 3.86 ERA and won a World Series title with the Diamondbacks in 2001.
He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1986 MLB draft out of the University of Texas at Austin.
“First of all, I can’t thank you enough for the shares and messages…I have been sifting through them while Greg is in Austin with the police,” Swindell’s wife, Sarah, wrote on his Facebook, adding, “Please continue to pray for the safe return. Thank you all so much again.”
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison and Jen Watts contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Agricultural officials in Southern California are battling an active infestation of red imported fire ants that are “highly aggressive in nature,” and pose a risk to California’s agricultural economy.
The infestation occurred at a private property in Montecito, in Santa Barbara County, according to a recent press release from the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.
Located over 90 miles north of Los Angeles, Montecito is best known as a celebrity enclave with Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle among the town’s residents.
Officials did not name the owners of the private property.
Venom released from the ants’ stings can cause “painful pustules on the skin, and can be particularly dangerous, even fatal, to sensitive groups or those with an allergy to the venom,” officials said in the July 18 release.
Red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, pose “an immediate threat” to California’s agricultural economy because they require a quarantine of nursery products, officials said.
The ant species is native to South America but has established populations in parts of Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties. The first recorded presence of the species in California was in 1984.
Siavash Taravati, an entomologist and integrated pest management advisor with the University of California’s Cooperative Extension offices, noted the distinction between this species of ants and ants native to California.
Native fire ants and argentine ants appear similar to red imported fire ants in size and color but the quickest way to differentiate them is by their “aggressive behavior,” Taravati told ABC News.
The ants’ stinging behavior is hazardous to fieldworkers and infestations can clog irrigation systems and damage electrical wiring, Taravati said.
The presence of red imported fire ants is known to increase the cost of fruit picking in the region, according to Taravati, due to the health dangers associated with the species.
The ants can also threaten wildlife and displace native ant species, Taravati said.
This is the only known active infestation in Santa Barbara County, according to officials, who said there are currently no red imported fire ant quarantines in place.
The infestation is believed to have originated from a nursery stock shipped from Riverside County in September 2023, which was infested by the red ants and spread to the surrounding property.
Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office staff are conducting regular surveys of the impacted property and determining appropriate treatments by a licensed and registered pest control business, according to the release.
Officials are working in collaboration with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), and Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office staff.