A shooting fatality at a golf school in Barrow County, Georgia, claimed the lives of Mason Schermerhorn and two 14-year-olds

Police agencies rushed to Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Ga., on Wednesday after a shooting was reported. A suspect is in custody, officials said.

The authorities identified the dead students as two 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. The educators killed were identified as Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie. Spellings of the names were not confirmed by the authorities.

“Those that are deceased are heroes in my book,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Those that are in hospitals right now are heroes for me.

Mason Schermerhorn was described by friends of his family as a lighthearted teenager who liked spending time with his family, reading, telling jokes, playing video games and visiting Walt Disney World. He had recently started at the school.

“He really enjoyed life,” said Doug Kilburn, 40, a friend who has known Schermerhorn’s mother for a decade. He always had an optimistic attitude.

Mr. Briscoe called the mother of a student who was at the high school and asked if everything was okay after he heard about the shooting. She said that Mason was gone.

The gunman — who the authorities identified as a 14-year-old student at the school — will be charged with murder, officials said. Students barricaded themselves inside their classrooms as they heard gunfire.

The golf coach at the school was injured during the shooting, as was a math special education teacher. Katie Phenix, his daughter, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he was shot in the foot and hip, shattering his hip bone.

Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, is in a state investigation of an active-scattering-style shooting

Apalachee High School started its academic year on Aug. 1, according to its online calendar. The school is located on the outskirts of Winder in Georgia, near a rural highway that runs between Athens and Atlanta. This is the school’s 25th year, according to a recent message to parents.

“I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Gov. Brian Kemp said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said its agents were “on site assisting local, state, & federal law enforcement” who are investigating the violence.

According to the sheriff, authorities will give an update at 4 p.m. “This is going to take a while for us to get answers as to what happened and why,” he predicted.

Another local hospital declined to say whether it had any patients from the school, but media outlets in Georgia report at least two other casualties. NPR has been in touch with law enforcement agencies.

“We have many injuries and we’re not releasing any information,” Smith said, calling the process a very, very fluid investigation.

Sheriff Smith spoke to the reporters outside the school. Smith said that what they saw behind them is an evil thing. “At about 9:30 this morning, we received the first call that there was an active shooter” on the campus, he added.