The community of Apalachee High School is in mourning after the tragic September 4 mass shooting that claimed the lives of four individuals, including a 14-year-old student, Mason Schermerhorn, and a 53-year-old math teacher, Cristina Irimie. Hundreds gathered on Saturday to pay respect at separate services for the two, both remembered for their warmth and dedication to their families and larger community circles.
Schermerhorn's funeral, held at the Jefferson Civic Center, witnessed a sea of red attire, in honor of his favorite color. During the service, his father, Sheffron Pollard, delivered a deeply personal letter expressing regret over being unable to protect his son in the final moments. As reported by FOX 5 Atlanta, Pollard also mourned the future coaching moments he will never share with Mason, while Mason's mother, Breanna Schermerhorn, spoke of her son's big feelings and his role as a protector. Melody Blouin, a close family friend, mentioned that Mason's favorite video game was Kingdom Hearts, a detail solemnly enshrined as music from the game played during the ceremony.
Concurrently, Cristina Irimie was honored in a Romanian Orthodox service, recognizing her contributions not just as a teacher, but also as an active member of metro Atlanta's Romanian expatriate community. "We gather today to offer prayers for a noble soul," one of the priests presiding over Irimie's service stated, according to the ceremony details provided by PBS. The bilingual service reflected Irimie's heritage and her decades of dedication to her students and her faith community.
The memorials come as the high school awaits reopening, with its community grapling with the loss. Two other victims, Richard Aspinwall and Christian Angulo, also received private ceremonies in the wake of the shooting. Meanwhile, authorities have charged a 14-year-old student, Colt Gray, with murder, with his father facing second-degree murder charges for providing the firearm used in the incident. In a sobering reminder of the event's abruptness, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that the shooter was apprehended mere minutes after the first shots disrupted the calm of a school morning.
