Georgia learners resume academic activities as queries escalate concerning precautions prior to school assault
(CNN) — Marissa Green was 200 miles away from Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, when her gut feeling told her something wasn't right.
It was a Wednesday morning – before the incident at the school that claimed the lives of two students and two teachers. She had just received a text message from her 14-year-old son, Cole Green, saying, "I'm sorry, mom."
She contacted the school and asked administrators to check on him.
She shared her conversation with a school counselor in an interview with ABC News. "The counselor said, 'Well, I wanted to let you know that earlier this morning one of Cole's teachers had sent me an email that mentioned Cole was discussing school shootings,'" Marissa Green said.
"I told them it was an urgent situation and for them to immediately locate Cole for a wellness check," Marissa Green later mentioned in a text message to her sister. "I don't understand why they took so long."
The suspect's grandfather, Charles Patrick, informed CNN that he and Marissa began their journey from his residence in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to Winder after receiving the news.
Marissa Green stated to ABC News she hadn't spoken to her son since the incident.
"I would tell him that I love him – that me and Jesus will always love him. And I would tell him that 'it's not your fault.' It's not his fault," she said.
Cole Green is now being charged with four counts of felony murder in connection with the shooting at his high school that left two students and two adults dead.
His father, Colin Green, 54, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of child cruelty, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday. Both have refused to enter a plea.
The traumatized community is sending their children back to schools starting Tuesday – except for Apalachee High – as the question persists: Could more have been done to prevent the incident?
"We know the days ahead will be challenging and that we have some staff and some students who are not ready to return to school. We also believe, as a school system, that it is our responsibility to offer a secure space for those who are," Barrow County School System superintendent Dr. Dallas LeDuff said in a video message Sunday night.
All other schools in the district reopened Tuesday, with additional security and mental health resources available, according to the district.
Warning signs before the incident
Marissa Green's call to Apalachee High was not the only warning received that Wednesday morning. An anonymous caller contacted the school and warned of shootings at five schools that day, with Apalachee being first, according to the police.
Green exited his second-period Algebra class a few minutes before the incident began, according to his classmate Lyra Sayarath, who sat next to him.
Shortly after, another student – who shares a similar name to Green – was taken outside of class along with his backpack, Sayarath said.
When he returned to class, he told Sayarath that administrators "were looking for the kid who sits next to you, not me."
Apalachee High School has declined to comment on whether another student was mistakenly taken from the classroom in Green's place.
"The school failed them, that they could have prevented these deaths and they didn't," Lyra's mother, Rebecca Sayarath, told the Associated Press. "I truly, truly feel that way."
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith has informed CNN that there were no prior warnings of a possible threat.
A spokesperson for the sheriff's office on Monday referred questions to the Barrow County District Attorney's office. CNN has reached out to the district attorney's office for additional comment.
The FBI also stated it received a tip about Green making threats against schools in May 2023, but deputies in Jackson County, where Green lived at the time with his father, Colin Green, said they were unable to substantiate the tip.
When an investigator at the time was asked whether Colin Green had an AR-15, they replied "only hunting rifles."
Colin Green told investigators he purchased the AR-style rifle used in the school shooting as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, two law enforcement officers previously told CNN.
Marissa Green expressed her concern to ABC News, saying, "I told them it was an urgent situation and for them to immediately locate Cole for a wellness check." After the incident, she said to her sister in a text message, "I don't understand why they took so long."
