Colt Gray's mother alerted school minutes before deadly Georgia shooting, aunt says

The mother of Colt Gray, the 14-year-old accused of shooting four people at Apalachee High School in Georgia, alerted the school of an “extreme emergency” minutes before the shooting, according to Annie Brown, the boy’s aunt.

Brown told the Washington Post that Colt’s mother called the school, warning staff to locate her son immediately.

The woman provided the outlet with screenshots showing text messages exchanged between her and her sister, as well as a call log confirming communication with the school approximately 30 minutes before the shooting began.

Although he declined to offer further comment, he confirmed the information to the Associated Press.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday, when Colt Gray opened fire at Apalachee High School, leaving four people dead: two students, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14 years old, and two math teachers, Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39.

The young man was arrested at the scene and faces murder charges.

The Gray family gets complicated

The situation is further complicated for the Gray family as the teen’s father, Colin Gray, has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for allowing his son access to an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Authorities maintain that the weapon used in the massacre was in the possession and control of the father.

The young man had already been investigated by the Georgia FBI a year earlier for alleged threats of a school shooting through the Discord platform. During that investigation, the father denied that his son was responsible for these threats and assured that the weapons in his home were out of Colt’s reach.

Records from that investigation provide a picture of a teenager who was struggling both in his family and school life. Colin Gray confessed that his son had struggled following his parents’ separation and was being bullied at school, which affected his behaviour.

The father also shared that as part of their relationship, father and son used to practice hunting and shooting as hobbies. In fact, Colin proudly recalled the moment when Colt hunted his first deer, describing that day as “the best of his life.”

However, during the interview with investigators, he insisted that he had educated his son about the responsible use of weapons.

Despite this background, Jackson County authorities concluded at the time that there was insufficient evidence to link Colt to the online threats, and the family continued their lives, albeit under the pressure of a recent eviction that forced them to move in the summer of 2022.

With information from the Associated Press.

Continue reading:

• 5 facts about the Georgia high school shooter: He’s 14 and cooperating with authorities

• Georgia shooter questioned a year ago over threats

• 14-year-old Georgia school shooter to be tried as an adult and charged with murder