The father of suspected Georgia school shooter Colt Gray told investigators more than a year ago that his son had access to weapons in his house, but that the guns weren’t loaded.
According WAGA, Colt Gray lived with his father, Colin Gray, while two younger siblings lived with his mother when deputies investigated a tip from the FBI in May 2023 about threats of a school shooting made on a gaming app.
The younger Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder for the shooting on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder that killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, as CrimeOnline reported. Nine other people — eight students and one teacher — were wounded.
Both father and son appeared in court Friday morning. Judge Currie Mingledorff II told the 14-year-old he would not face the death penalty in the case because of his age. His attorney did not request bond, WANF reported.
His 54-year-old father was charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder, and eight counts of child cruelty. Mingledorff set preliminary hearings for both on December 4.
Sources familiar with the investigation said shortly before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Colin Gray’s arrest that he had told investigators he bought the AR-style rifle his son used in the mass murder as a Christmas present last year, a few months after the investigation into the alleged threats.
According to a recording of the interview with the father obtained by WAGA, he anwered affirmatively when asked if there were guns in the home. The investigators then asked if those weapons were accesible to Gray’s then 13-year-old son.
“They are, I mean there’s nothing loaded, but they are down,” the father replied.
“We actually, we do a lot of shooting,” he said. “We do a lot of deer hunting,. He shot his first deer this year.”
Colt Gray denied making any threats, and investigators were unable to substantiate the tip.
“I don’t know, like I don’t know anything about him saying s*** like that,” Colin Gray told the investigators. “I’m going to be mad as hell if he did. And then all the guns will go away. And they won’t be accessible to him. You know, I’m trying to be honest with you, I’m trying to teach him about firearms and safety, and how to do it all, getting him interested in the outdoors.”
Seven months later, Colin Gray gave his son an AR-style weapon as a Christmas present, and at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, his now 14-year-old son used it to murder four people at his school.
“I did it,” Colt Gray told investigators when he was asked about the shooting, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told CNN.
Meanwhile, a law enforcement source told CNN that investigators had found writings in the 14-year-old’s bedroom that referenced the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In that shooting, Nikolas Cruz, then 19, opened fire on students and staff, killing 17 people and wounded 17 more, as CrimeOnline reported. Cruz pleaded guilty to all charges in 2021 and was sentenced by a jury to life in prison without parole.
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[Featured image: Christian Angulo/GoFundMe, Mason Schermerhorn/handout, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie/Apalachee High School]
