WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A fourth and final funeral was held Friday more than two weeks after a shooting at a Georgia high school.
Roughly 600 mourners honored 14-year-old Christian Angulo during a funeral mass at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Winder, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He was among two students and two teachers killed Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School by a student armed with an assault-style rifle. Another teacher and eight other students were injured.
Family members didn’t speak at Christian’s service, but many wore shirts with a photo of Christian and the message, “Our angel in heaven. Your wings were ready, our hearts were not.”
Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer said in his homily the shooting has forever changed their community.
“Our focus is on the beams of love that shone from Christian’s all too short life,” Hartmayer said. “Despite our sadness, we are invited to celebrate the love and tenderness, the kindness and compassion, the joy and the laughter that were so characteristic of Christian’s life.”
The funeral marks another opportunity for students and faculty from the high school of 1,900 students to share their grief. Barrow County’s other schools reopened Sept. 10, and officials are planning a phased reopening of Apalachee High School beginning this Tuesday.
Funerals were previously held for the three other victims. A private funeral was held earlier this month for Richard Aspinwall, a 39-year-old math teacher and defensive coordinator of the school’s football team. Separate services were held last Saturday for 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn and Cristina Irimie, a 53-year-old math teacher.
Authorities have charged a 14-year-old student, Colt Gray, with murder in the high school killings. His father also has been charged with second-degree murder for allowing his son to have a weapon.
Authorities say the teen surrendered to school resource officers who confronted him roughly three minutes after the first shots were fired. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the teenager rode the bus to school with the semiautomatic rifle concealed in his backpack.
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