9 months ago
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(AP) — The parent of the 14-year-old who has been charged with execution implicit the fatal shooting of 4 radical astatine his Georgia precocious schoolhouse called the schoolhouse earlier the killings, informing unit of an “extreme emergency” involving her son, a comparative said.
Annie Brown told the Washington Post that her sister, Colt Gray’s mother, texted her saying she spoke with a schoolhouse counsellor and urged them to “immediately” find her lad to cheque connected him.
Brown provided screenshots of the substance speech to the newspaper, which besides reported that a telephone log from the family’s shared telephone program showed a telephone was made to the schoolhouse astir 30 minutes earlier gunfire is believed to person erupted.
Brown confirmed the reporting to The Associated Press connected Saturday successful substance messages but declined to supply further comment.
Colt Gray, 14, has been charged with execution implicit the sidesplitting of 2 students and 2 teachers astatine Apalachee High School successful Barrow County, extracurricular Atlanta, connected Wednesday. His father, Colin Gray, is accused of second-degree execution for providing his lad with a semiautomatic AR 15-style rifle.
Their attorneys declined to instantly question bail during their archetypal tribunal quality connected Friday.
Investigators antecedently interviewed the suspects
The Georgia teen had struggled with his parents' separation and taunting by classmates, his begetter told a sheriff's researcher past twelvemonth erstwhile asked whether his lad posted an online threat.
“I don’t cognize thing astir him saying (expletive) similar that,” Gray told Jackson County sheriff’s researcher Daniel Miller, according to a transcript of their interrogation obtained by the AP. “I’m going to beryllium huffy arsenic hellhole if helium did, and past each the guns volition spell away.”
Jackson County authorities ended their enquiry into Colt Gray a twelvemonth ago, concluding that determination wasn’t wide grounds to nexus him to a menace posted connected Discord, a societal media tract fashionable with video gamers. The records from that probe supply astatine slightest a constrictive glimpse into a lad who struggled with his parents’ breakup and astatine the mediate schoolhouse helium attended astatine the time, wherever his begetter said others often taunted him.
Father says his lad was bullied astatine school
“He gets flustered and nether pressure. He doesn’t truly deliberation straight,” Colin Gray told the researcher connected May 21, 2023, recalling a treatment he’d had with the boy’s principal.
Middle schoolhouse had besides been unsmooth for Colt Gray. He had conscionable finished the seventh people erstwhile Miller interviewed the begetter and son. Colin Gray said the lad had conscionable a fewer friends and often got picked on. Some students “just ridiculed him time aft time aft day.”
“I don’t privation him to combat anybody, but they conscionable support similar pinching him and touching him,” Gray said. “Words are 1 thing, but you commencement touching him and that’s a full antithetic deal. And it’s conscionable escalated to the constituent wherever similar his finals were past week and that was the past happening connected his mind.”
Shooting guns and hunting, helium said, were predominant pastimes for begetter and son. Gray said helium was encouraging the lad to beryllium much progressive outdoors and walk little clip playing video games connected his Xbox. When Colt Gray killed a cervid months earlier, his begetter swelled with pride. He showed the researcher a photograph connected his cellphone, saying: “You spot him with humor connected his cheeks from shooting his archetypal deer.”
“It was conscionable the top time ever,” Colin Gray said.
There’s nary notation successful the investigator’s study and interrogation transcript of either Gray owning an assault-style rifle. Asked if his lad had entree to firearms, the begetter said yes. But helium said the guns weren’t kept loaded and insisted helium had emphasized information erstwhile teaching the lad to shoot.
“He knows the seriousness of weapons and what they tin do,” Gray said, “and however to usage them and not usage them.”
Family evicted successful 2022
An eviction upended the Grays' household successful the summertime of 2022. On July 25 of that year, a sheriff’s lawman was dispatched to the rental location connected a suburban cul-de-sac wherever Colin Gray, his wife, Colt, and the boy’s 2 younger siblings lived. A moving unit was piling their belongings successful the yard.
The Jackson County lawman said successful a study that the movers recovered guns and hunting bows successful a closet successful the maestro bedroom. They turned the weapons and ammunition implicit to the lawman for safekeeping, alternatively than permission them extracurricular with the family's different possessions.
The lawman wrote that helium near copies of receipt forms for the weapons connected the beforehand doorway truthful that Gray could prime them up aboriginal astatine the sheriff's office. The crushed for eviction is not mentioned successful the report. Colin Gray told the researcher successful 2023 that helium had paid his rent.
It was pursuing the eviction, helium said, that his woman near him, taking the 2 younger siblings with her. Colt Gray “struggled astatine archetypal with the separation and all,” said the father, who worked a operation job.
"I’m the sole provider, doing precocious rises downtown,” helium told the investigator. Two days later, determination was a follow-up interrogation with Colin Gray portion helium was astatine work. He said by phone: “I’m hanging disconnected the apical of a building. ... I’ve got a large crane assistance going, truthful it’s benignant of noisy up here.”
Boy described arsenic quiet
The researcher besides interviewed the boy, past 13, who was described successful a study arsenic quiet, calm, and reserved.
He denied making immoderate threats and said that months earlier he’d stopped utilizing the Discord platform, wherever the schoolhouse menace was posted. He aboriginal told his begetter his relationship had been hacked.
“The lone happening I person is TikTok, but I conscionable spell connected determination and ticker videos,” the teen said.
A twelvemonth earlier they would some extremity up charged successful the precocious schoolhouse shooting, Colin Gray insisted to the sheriff’s researcher that his lad wasn’t the benignant to endanger violence.
“He’s not a loner, Officer Miller. Don’t get that,” the begetter said, adding: “He conscionable wants to spell to school, bash his ain happening and helium doesn’t privation immoderate trouble.”
