The deranged Georgia school shooter who allegedly killed two fellow students and two teachers Wednesday morning attempted to get back into his algebra class — but was rebuffed by a peer after she apparently saw he had a gun, according to another student.
Soon after the denial, a round of gunshots erupted inside Apalachee High School in Winder.
Junior Lyela Sayarath told CNN suspected gunman Colt Gray, who she sat next to in the math classroom, left at the start of the period only to return near the end of it.
Sayarath reportedly said someone over the loudspeaker told her teacher to check her email and moments later Gray, 14, wanted to get back inside the class.
Because the doors automatically lock when shut, someone from inside the classroom would need to let him in.
“They almost let him in, but I’m pretty sure she saw that he had a gun and so she backed away,” Sayarath said.
“And then he turned away and that’s when you hear like the first round of fire.”
The alleged gunman had moved onto another classroom, where he opened fire, she said.
When Sayarath and her classmates heard gunshots, everyone dropped to the floor and piled on top of each other.
“The teacher turned off the lights, but we all just kind of piled together. And like I pushed desks in front of us,” she said.
The teen described Gray as “pretty quiet” and revealed he regularly skipped class.
“Even when he would’ve talked, it was one word answers or short statements,” she said.
She wasn’t surprised he allegedly opened fire inside the school.
“Just because when you think of like shooters and how they act or things that they do, it’s usually the quiet kid or that’s a stereotype for it to be and he was the one that fit that description in our class,” she added.
Gray was taken into custody just minutes after he allegedly started the mass shooting that killed four and injured another nine at the high school, which is about an hour from Atlanta.
Law enforcement officials said during a Wednesday night press conference he used an AR-15 rifle during the sickening shooting.
