Who were the fatal victims of the Georgia high school shooting?

The umpteenth school shooting in the United States claimed the lives of four people on Wednesday at the Apalachee Institute in Georgia. Colt Gray, a quiet 14-year-old boy who had been on the FBI’s radar for more than a year, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle and killed two students and two teachers at the school. Nine other people required hospital care, although their lives are not in danger. The authorities have identified the victims. They are Christian Angulo, a 14-year-old Latino student, descendant of Mexican immigrants; Mason Schermerhorn, an African-American student of the same age; and the mathematics teachers Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39. This is what is known about the four fatalities.

Christian Angulo

Christian Angulo, 14, had only been at the school for a month, as he was a freshman and the school year had just started. He was a Latino student, descended from Mexican immigrants, according to The Latin Times. His sister posted a tribute message to ask for funds on the GoFundMe page. “My name is Lisette Angulo. I am the older sister of Christian Angulo. Unfortunately, my little brother was one of the victims of the shooting at Apalachee High School. He was only 14 years old. He was a very good, sweet, and caring boy. He was loved by so many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected… We are truly heartbroken… He truly did not deserve this,” she writes, asking for help with funeral expenses.

Mason Schermerhorn

Mason Schermerhorn was a cheerful African-American boy. At 14, he enjoyed reading, playing video games and visiting Walt Disney World. He had also just started high school. On a fundraising page for his funeral, his sister remembers him as a fun-loving teenager who liked to tell jokes.

A neighbor described how Mason had grown into a high school freshman from a curious boy of about 4 who would run into the neighbor’s yard when his parents took him outside, the Associated Press reports. He would come up and say, “What are you doing? What are you doing? It was so funny to watch him like that, like a little kid,” Tommy Pickett said. Mason’s death left Pickett shaken and his daughter, who had seen Mason at the bus stop that morning, in tears.

“She actually saw him get on the bus that day and not get back on the bus,” Pickett said. “I just can’t believe he left like that. Why? Why him? He was always smiling. He was always funny, just laughing and all that. When he was talking to you, he was smiling and all that. Why him? What did he do to deserve that?” she added to the agency.

Family members described Mason as someone who was always positive and always looked on the bright side of things. One of his favorite hobbies was playing video games on his PS5 and virtual reality headset, according to the television station. Fox 5 from Atlanta.

Louis Briscoe told The New York Times When he heard about the shooting, he called the boy’s mother, a friend and co-worker. She told him, “Mason is dead,” and his heart sank. “No one should have to go through this kind of pain,” Briscoe said.

Richard Aspinwall

Aspinwall, 39, was a math teacher and football coach, tasked with coordinating the defensive line. He and his wife, Shayna, taught together at Mountain High School. He had two young daughters. “Incredibly heartbroken over the loss of our dear friend Coach Aspinwall. He was truly as great as it gets. An amazing human being. He would do anything for anyone. Amazing husband, father, teacher and coach. I will never forget you bro,” tweeted Brandon Gill, football coach at nearby Bufford High School.

“In my case, he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He pushed me to have great aspirations through the faith he had in me,” said Marquel Broughton, one of his former players at Mountain View, Gwinnett Daily Post. “His love was genuine and his heart was pure. His legacy will live on forever through those he touched. Coach A will always be known as a hero.”

Christina Irimie

Christina Irimie, 53, was a math teacher at Apalachee High School. Students described her as patient and caring, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Irimie had recently had a birthday, so to celebrate she made a cake and had brought pizza to her class on the day of her death “so she could celebrate with her children,” Gabrielle Buth said, according to NPR. The outlet notes that Irimie was born in Romania and still has family there, including a brother, who now has to tell her mother, who had just undergone emergency surgery last weekend, that her daughter had passed away.

“She was very jovial and full of life. She always answered the phone (in Romanian): ‘Hello, my love’, I can still hear her now: ‘From Jubita’. “Christina was someone who made you feel welcome and important and she was so, SO funny. Just full of life,” Buth wrote of her friend in a message to NPR.