Apalachee High teacher injured in shooting released from hospital

WINDER, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Apalachee High School teacher David Phenix has been released from the hospital.

Phenix was one of nine injured after police said 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire inside the school on Sept. 4. The shooting claimed the lives of football coach Richard Aspinwall, math teacher Cristina Irimie, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.

FULL COVERAGE: Apalachee High School shooting

Phenix had been in the intensive care unit since the shooting and had surgery on his hip and ankle. He posted an emotional message on his Facebook page Sunday night, saying his mental road back to some degree of normalcy will be just as challenging as the physical.

“To put into words the events of these past days escape all description. The images, sights, sounds, and actions are immense and will be forever etched in my memory and will take weeks, months, and even years to process. Right now, my emotions are so much easier to describe than the justifications and reasons behind them. From anger to mourning to sadness to gratefulness to even feeling blessed to be able to sit here and write this post, processing the reasons behind September 4th will be a long road which will most likely, never be truly understood,” Phenix wrote in his post.

He said he was blessed that the bullet missed vital parts of his body.

“Had things been a quarter inch to the left or right, things could have been vastly different,” he wrote.

Phenix thanked first responders, doctors and nurses, as well as another teacher and students for helping him while he was wounded. He also thanked his family for their continued support in his recovery.

You can read Phenix’s full statement below: