Senator from Georgia targets gun lobby, churches mourn

WINDER, Georgia – This small town, still reeling from last week's deadly school massacre, mourned its dead at church services Sunday while a Georgia senator rebuked the gun lobby for profiting off “the blood of our children.”

On Sunday morning, parishioners streamed through the stained-glass doors of St. Constantine and Helena Romanian Orthodox Church to pray and mourn for Romanian-born Cristina Irimie, a beloved church member and 53-year-old math teacher at Apalachee High School, where she was gunned down Wednesday.

Also killed were Richard Aspinwall, 39, a math teacher and football coach, and 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Eight students and one teacher were injured.

14-year-old student Colt Gray is accused of fourteen counts of murder and is being held without bail.

On Sunday, a white-robed priest sang prayers in Romanian under a golden archway decorated with a cross in Irimie's church. The faithful, dressed in traditional Romanian clothing – women in white embroidered blouses and some men with wide leather belts – stood in the pews with their heads bowed.

People greeted each other quietly in front of the church doors while women put on their headscarves. Several candles burned in a small fireplace next to the entrance.

Romanian community in Georgia mourns: Teacher killed in shooting in Apalachee

Death of a teacher shocks two churches

Irimie, who moved to the United States from Romania with her husband, Dorin, more than two decades ago, was a valued part of the area's Romanian community, Nicolae Clempus, pastor of Saint Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church, the sister church of Saints Constantine and Helen, previously told USA TODAY. The shooting and Irimie's loss had rocked both churches, which are about 10 and 30 miles from the high school, respectively.

“We are united in our grief,” Clempus said. “We can get through this by thinking of Cristina, by being close to her family, but also by healing in time.”

Sen. Warnock: We can do better

During an appearance on NBC News' “Meet the Press,” Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia said the shooting in Winder shows that “we are all easy prey.”

“We can do better,” he said. “This is a tragic form of American exceptionalism. You don't see anything like it anywhere in the world.”

No other country not at war sees such routine, indiscriminate violence. It has become a tragic part of “people's everyday lives,” Warnock said.

Gray's father, Colin, who is accused of giving his son an assault rifle or providing access to it, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of premeditated murder and eight counts of child abuse.

“Fourteen-year-olds don't need AR-15s,” Warnock said. “We need to get these military-style weapons off the streets.”

Why can't Congress pass comprehensive gun reform? Warnock said the blame lies with politicians who are “subservient” to gun lobbyists.

“The gun lobby is lining its pockets with the blood of our children,” he said.

Mother of Georgia attacker: Report: Mother said she called school before attack

The shooter's mother called the school a few minutes before the attack

The mother of the 14-year-old boy accused of killing the four people at the high school said she notified the school counselor the morning of the shooting that there was an “extreme emergency” and her son needed to be found, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The call log obtained by The Post shows that Marcee Gray, the suspect's mother, made a 10-minute call to the school about a half-hour before the shooting began.

“I was the one who notified the high school counselor,” Gray said in a text message to her sister, Annie Brown, according to a screenshot of the conversation obtained by The Post. “I told them it was an extreme emergency and to go find (my son) immediately to check on him.”

Brown declined to elaborate on what prompted Gray to alert the school, but Charles Polhamus, the suspects' grandfather, told the New York Post on Saturday that Gray rushed to Winder, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, after receiving a text message from her son that read, “I'm sorry, Mom.”

Marcee Gray has been arrested on multiple charges over the past two years, including suspicion of possession of controlled substances such as fentanyl and painkillers, according to court records in Barrow County. Gray eventually pleaded guilty to using a license plate to conceal his identity, second-degree criminal damage to property and trespassing/domestic violence.

− N'dea Yancey-Bragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia school shooting: Mourning for teacher, criticism of gun lobby