Tim Walz says he’s ‘sick and tired of hearing about thoughts and prayers’ following school shooting
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke about the Apalachee High School shooting on 5 September. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Tim Walz has said he’s “sick and tired of hearing about thoughts and prayers” following the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia, which left four dead.
Walz, who was named as Kamala Harris’ running mate in the race for the White House in August, spoke about the Wednesday (4 September) shooting at a campaign rally at the Highmark Amphitheater in Erie, Pennsylvania on Thursday.
He told his supporters: “We believe in the freedom to send our kids to school without being shot dead in the hall.”
“The news cycle moves on within a day,” he commented of the incident, adding that kids had returned to school feeling excited and “now we have four dead”.
Walz sent condolences to the families of the two kids and teachers who were killed and those who were injured.
Those who died in the shooting have been identified as student Mason Schermerhorn, 14, student Christian Angulo, 14, teacher Richard Aspinwall, 39 and teacher Cristina Irimie, 53.
As a “teacher, a student and a dad”, Walz continued, “I loved back to school season… now for those kids it will always be a time of sheer terror and that will be a memory they will hold forever.”
He added: “I for one am sick and tried of hearing about thoughts and prayers rather than actually doing something.”
Colin Gray and son charged in school shooting case
Colt Gray, 14, has been accused of killing two teachers and two students in a shooting on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, near Atlanta, Georgia.
Gray will appear in court on Friday (6 September) and will be charged, as an adult, with four counts of murder.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said his father, Colin Gray, 54, who “knowingly allowed his son, Colt, to have the weapon”, is facing four charges of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene has commented on the shooting, writing on X: “Let us join together in prayer for the victims and their families…”
People have slammed her tweet for “hypocrisy” due to the fact that Marjorie Taylor Greene is a guns right activist and regularly “glorifies guns” – including the father of a child killed in a previous school shooting.
Manuel Oliver, the father of a child slain during the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School High School shooting in Parkland, Florida told Scripps News, “Shame on anyone that is praying today instead of reacting.”
Greene previously tweeted transphobic remarks following news that a shooter was shot dead by police after opening fire in a Nashville school in March last year.
Walz has been targeted by right-wing and anti-LGBTQ+ politicians for his progressive policies.
Is Colt Gray transgender?
Following the Apalachee High School shooting, speculation around suspect Colt Gray’s gender began.
Some of the speculation has alleged that he is transgender, but there is no evidence to suggest this whatsoever.
Gray, 14, used a riffle to kill the victims in the hallway outside his algebra class. He will be tried as an adult. His
According to The Christian Post, Colt came from a “broken home” with his mother revealing on Facebook in 2022 that his father had suffered abuse as a child.
Speaking to CNN, a junior at the high school, Lyela Sayarath, described Colt as “pretty quiet” and said he often would “skip class”.
Colt was previously investigated for threatening to carry out a school shooting, however, following an investigation no further action was taken.
“During the course of this investigation, the gaming site threats could not be substantiated,” Jackson Sheriff Janis Mangum said.
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