Football team pays heartbreaking tribute to heroic former coach Ricky Aspinwall who was killed in Georgia high school shooting while 'protecting his students'
- Ricky Aspinwall leaves behind wife Shayna and their two young daughters
A high school football team has paid tribute to their heroic former coach who was killed while he tried to usher his students to safety after a teenager went on a shooting spree at a Georgia school.
'With deepest sympathy we share that former MV secondary coach Ricky Aspinwall was tragically lost during the senseless act at a nearby high school today,' the Mountain View Bears Football team wrote in a post on X.
'Coach A was a beloved member of MVHS football and the school's math department. We pray for Shayna and his girls,' the post continued.
Several more tributes for the father-of-two poured in on social media.
X user Brandon Gill wrote: 'Unbelievably heartbroken over the loss of our dear friend.
A high school football team has paid tribute to their former coach Ricky Aspinwall who was killed in a deadly school shooting in Georgia yesterday
Ricky Aspinwall with his wife and two young daugthers
Teacher Richard Aspinwall was named as one of the four victims of the shooting
'He was truly as great as they come. Helluva human being. Would do anything for anyone. Amazing husband, father, teacher and coach.'
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Aspinwall's wife Shayna and their two young daughters.
'We are all in shock over the news that Ricky Aspinwall lost his life protecting his students. Please consider donating to help Shayna Aspinwall with expenses she will have to incur and to make sure her two precious babies are taken care of', the fundraiser says.
$60,480 have been raised so fair of the $85,000 target.
39-year-old math teacher and football coach Ricky Aspinwall was confirmed as one of the four people killed yesterday after the alleged 14-year-old shooter Colt Gray, who was armed with an assault-style rifle, opened fire on Apalachee High.
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, an autistic student at Apalachee High School, was the first victim to be identified. He was among four people killed in the mass shooting
Teacher Christina Irimie was also identified as a victim
Student Christian Angulo, 14, also lost his life in the senseless shooting
Two 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo and teacher Christina Irmie, 53, were also killed.
Schermerhorn's family said he was an autistic student at the school, with a loved one saying after his passing it is 'sad we can't even send our babies to school and them be safe.'
Nine others were wounded in the bloody rampage.
Images showed students streaming out onto the campus as terrified parents raced to find their children, with one mother describing the scene outside the school as pure 'chaos.'
It was the the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
Student Gretchen Gierlach, 18, holds up banners following a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder
Mourners pray during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School
A junior at the school, Gray immediately surrendered when confronted by law enforcement and will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
He currently remains in custody at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.
The student, who was described as a 'quiet' teen who would often skip class, had been interviewed by the FBI a year ago following 'several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time'.
Gray had denied making any online threats and police alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the teen, but there was no probable cause for arrest or additional action, the FBI said.
