The mother of 14-year-old Colt Gray, who has been charged with fatally shooting four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, attempted to warn school officials just minutes before the alleged gunman carried out his rampage.
The case has ignited national debates about bullying, gun control, and parental responsibilities.
Annie Brown, Colt’s aunt, told The Washington Post that Marcee Gray called the school before the attack to alert them of an “extreme situation” with her son.
“I was responsible for notifying the school counselor in the high school,” Brown told the school counselor that it was a serious emergency, and they should go and check on [my son] immediately.
She gave screenshots of text messages that she and her sister exchanged and provided evidence of the phone call which took place about 30 minutes before the shooting.
After speaking to Brown, the Associated Press confirmed these reports. The shared family phone plan revealed that a call was made to the school at 9:50 am. School staff tried to find Colt but were too late.
Lyela Sayarath was a student in the class. She said that a school administrator visited the math classroom at the same time. Sayarath stated that there was confusion about another student with a similar name to Gray’s son. She said neither student was present in the classroom, and that the official had left the room with the backpack of the student who shared a similar name. The shooting began minutes later.
The phone logs, texts, and interviews are the strongest evidence yet that Apalachee officials were aware of concerns regarding the suspect the morning of the shooting. They may have even been searching for him minutes before the alleged murderer killed four and injured nine people with an AR-15-style rifle. The texts show that Brown’s family and school were in touch about his mental state a week before the shooting. Brown also told a relative that he was having “homicidal” and “suicidal” thoughts at that time.
Colt Gray’s personal and family struggles have emerged as key factors in understanding the motives behind this incident. He was reportedly a victim of bullying and had been separated from his parents.
Colin Gray, the father of the suspect, told investigators his son was bullied often by classmates. “Some students ridiculed him every day, day after day,” he said.
Colin remembered encouraging his son to engage in outdoor activities such as shooting and hunting.
Colt was on the radar of law enforcement for making threats to commit a mass shooting in the school. Investigators interviewed Colt in 2023 about the threats that were posted on Discord. Colt denied posting the threats and the law enforcement agency did not find any substantial evidence linking him to it. His father said, “I will be furious if he does and all the guns would disappear.”
The father now faces prison time as well. He has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary homicide for giving his child the rifle used in the attack. This case is similar to that of Ethan Crumbley’s parents, who killed four students at Oxford High School.
Jennifer and James Crumbley have been found guilty of manslaughter involuntary and sentenced to ten years behind bars. They failed to secure the gun their son had used during the attack.
