We have new details about the suspect and the victims in the deadly shooting at a Georgia high school. And Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft is set to begin its trip back to Earth without its crew. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
FBI: Suspect in Georgia school shooting was questioned over online threats
Authorities have released more details about the shooter who opened fire in a Georgia high school on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Two teachers and two students were killed, and nine others were wounded.
The FBI said the shooter was a 14-year-old who was under investigation last year for making online threats. Officials said he was interviewed in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting.
Just before 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, gunfire was reported at Apalachee High School in a small town about 45 miles from Atlanta. A sheriff’s deputy working as a school resource officer engaged with the shooter, who has been identified as Colt Gray, and the teen immediately surrendered.
Officials said Gray will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
The victims were two 14-year-old students, a 53-year-old math teacher, and a second math teacher, a 39-year-old who also coached as the defensive coordinator for the school’s football team, according to the school’s website.
Eight other students and one teacher were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds and are expected to survive.
The school will remain closed for the remainder of the week and crisis counselors are on school campus as students grapple with the tragedy they have now experienced.
“I was listening, and you can hear gunshots just ringing out through the school and you’re just wondering which one of those is going to be somebody that you’re best friends with or somebody that you love,” said Landon Culver, a junior at the school. “You hear about this kind of stuff and you never think it’s going to happen to you until it’s happening. And then once you’re in that, it’s like this really happened. It’s like a surreal experience.”
Authorities said Gray, then 13, was a possible suspect in connection with threats made online last year using photos of guns and threatening to shoot up a school. They said he denied making the threats and there was no probable cause to arrest him, however, local schools were told to “continue monitoring the suspect.”
Gray’s father was also interviewed a year ago over the online threats. Investigators said his father told them he had hunting guns inside the home, but his son did not have unsupervised access to them.
Trump holds town hall in PA; Harris talks economy in NH
Vice President Kamala Harris was in New Hampshire Wednesday offering more insight into what her economic policies would look like. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump took part in a town hall hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
During the interview, Trump highlighted Harris’ stance on fracking, saying in 2019 she would ban it if elected but she would not ban it now.
Trump was in Pennsylvania and kept much of the focus on the battleground state. Hannity asked Trump how the 2024 election differs from the election he won in 2016.
“It’s not that different,” Trump said. “It’s still about the forgotten man and forgotten woman. People are being treated horribly in the country. We’re a country that’s being laughed at all over the world. It’s very simple and it starts with make America great again, that’s what we have to do.”
Meanwhile, Harris was in New Hampshire discussing more of her tax plan if elected in November.
“My plan will make our tax code more fair while also prioritizing investment and innovation,” Harris said. “So let us be clear: billionaires and big corporations must pay their fair share in taxes.”
Harris is proposing an increase to the long-term capital gains tax rate but not as high as what was in President Joe Biden’s reelection agenda. Harris said she wants to raise the tax rate to 28% from its current 20% rate. Biden had called for a 39.6% tax rate.
Harris reiterated support for taxing the wealthy and corporations at higher rates. She’s proposing raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, up from the current 21% rate set by Trump in 2017.
Trump is looking to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% if elected for a second term.
Trump, Harris agree on rules for debate
There’s less than a week now until the first debate between Trump and Harris and they’ve now agreed on the rules. The debate, hosted by ABC, will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News anchor Linsey Davis.
It’ll be 90 minutes long with two commercial breaks. There will be no audience in the room and microphones will only be turned on for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. The moderators will be the only ones allowed to ask questions.
Trump won a virtual coin flip held on Tuesday, Sept. 4, and chose to make the last closing statement. They’ll get two minutes each.
Each candidate will also get two minutes to answer each question with a two-minute rebuttal and one additional minute for a follow-up, clarification, or response.
Because Trump got to choose the closing statement order, Harris chose the podium placement. She’ll be at the right podium on the screen.
CPSC wants to investigate Shein and Temu kids’ products
The U.S. government wants to investigate Chinese e-commerce websites Shein and Temu. In an open letter, two leaders of the Consumer Product Safety Commission accused the online companies of selling “deadly baby and toddler products.”
They want the commission to investigate how the websites comply with U.S. safety laws, citing “recent media reports” that dangerous products meant for kids are easy to find on both sites.
This is just the latest probe into the companies, both of which have been under scrutiny for how they’re able to sell things for such low prices and how much environmental waste they create, as well as concerns over the potential use of forced labor.
Boeing’s Starliner to return to Earth empty on Friday
Boeing’s embattled Starliner will begin its trip back to Earth on Friday. Sept. 6, without the two astronauts who rode it into space. NASA said Wednesday everything is on track for the uncrewed departure of the Starliner capsule as long as weather forecasts remain clear at its landing site in New Mexico.
The return will mark the final phase of a test flight that did not go as planned.
Starliner’s first crewed trip to space was supposed to prove Boeing could reliably bring astronauts to and from the International Space Station so NASA could certify it to do so.
But issues that popped up just after launch have left astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stuck on the space station since June. Their mission was only supposed to last about a week.
Now they can’t come home until February, when they’ll be picked up by SpaceX on its next mission to the ISS.
2024 NFL season kicks off Thursday night
The 2024 NFL season kicks off Thursday night with reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens.
The game will start a weekend of football action, including the first NFL game to be played in Brazil when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Green Bay Packers Friday night. That game will be a streaming exclusive available only on Peacock.
Then the first Sunday of the NFL calendar, Sept. 8, will see 13 games played, with another first: Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin will be starting during the team’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. This will be Hamlin’s first start since suffering a cardiac arrest on the field in January 2023.
Week 1 wraps up Monday night, Sept. 9, with the New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers.
