School resource officers at Apalachee High School hailed as heroes after shooting

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — The school resource officer team at Apalachee High School who stopped the shooter are being hailed as heroes.

Channel 2 Action News Gwinnett County bureau reporter Matt Johnson was live at the school Thursday.

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While the sheriff’s office has not identified the officer who held the suspect at gunpoint, more details about the team protecting the school are emerging.

Barrow County Deputies Dawson Matherly, Matt Cook, and Brandon King make up the school resource officer team for Apalachee High School, according to the school’s Facebook page.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Deputy Brandon King and Sgt. Chase Boyd were at the school that day.

Boyd is a school resource officer at Bethlehem Elementary School.

Deputy Matherly’s mother confirmed he was at the school during the deadly shooting that killed two students, and two teachers, and injured nine others.

Chris Harvey, with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, stated that active shooter training helped prevent further deaths.

“As tragic as this situation is, it sounds like it could have been a lot worse,” Harvey said.

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Records show each deputy on the SRO team completed school safety and active shooter response training in July. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed the armed SROs worked together to confront the shooter and got him to surrender.

“Their response is designed to find, confront, and stop the shooter before doing anything else,” Smith emphasized.

In recent years, active shooter training has become more common for law enforcement and the public. Harvey noted that, while not mandatory for police departments now, it will soon be required.

“Active shooter training is going to be required for every new police officer in Georgia starting in 2025,” Harvey stated.

Some parents yesterday said their kids were in the classrooms next to where the shooting happened and could have been the next targets.

The family of Deputy Matherly cannot give statements due to the ongoing investigation but are grieving the losses.

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