Investigators said Wednesday that Colin Gray, the father of the teen accused of killing four people at a Georgia high school, knew that his son’s mental health was getting worse and that he was interested in shooting up schools. This was revealed during a hearing that brought up troubling new details about what led up to the rampage.
At Colin Gray’s preliminary hearing, disturbing facts about what was found in his home on September 4, the day of the Apalachee High School shooting, were shared. These included a notebook with drawings by Colt Gray of stick figures with wounds. It said “Shoot the teacher first” next to the pictures.
In a Barrow County courtroom, prosecutors called investigators to the stand to support their claim that the father gave his son the gun used in the shooting as a Christmas present and continued to buy accessories, a tactical vest, and ammunition even though he knew his son was angry and anxious.
Investigators made a picture of a house where signs of possible violence were ignored or not dealt with properly. Kelsey Ward, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said Colt made a shrine to school killings with at least one picture of the Parkland, Florida, shooter.
There was also a note in the game room that said, “Please forgive me.” I have no power over it. Goodbye.
In the end, a magistrate judge decided that there was enough evidence to put Colin Gray, who was chained up and wearing an orange and white jail jumpsuit, on trial for the charges that were brought against him. He was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Former federal lawyer Jeffrey Toobin said this is only the second time in U.S. history that a parent has been charged in connection with a mass shooting by a child.
CNN has reached out to Colin Gray’s lawyers to get their thoughts. At the meeting, they didn’t call any witnesses, but they did ask the investigators about statements that said Colin Gray did fill out a school form asking for help for Colt.
Colt Gray, who is 14 years old, will be tried as an adult, according to the police. He is being charged with four counts of felony murder. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told CNN that while he was being questioned, he told police, “I did it.”
A fascination with guns and killings at schools
Ward said that Colt Gray wrote down in notebooks what he planned to do at Apalachee High School.
In an interview after the shooting that hurt nine people, Colin Gray talked in great detail about how he spent time trying to get his son into hunting and shooting, which were hobbies he liked.
Investigators said that drawings in notebooks found in the house showed how Colt Gray would use stick figures to carry out a killing that would end in his suicide.
Ward said the teen told his parents it wasn’t their fault and asked them to forgive him in letters that were left in his game room where they could see them. In the notes, Colt Gray wrote that he was “depressed,” “delirious,” and “eager to die.”
Ward said that newspaper images of students in grief and Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz were stuck to a wall with thumbtacks. Colt Gray told Colin Gray’s son who it was when he asked, and the subject “dropped” after that.
Ward talked to Colt Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, and she said that her son had joked about school killings and asked his dad to buy him a shooter mask so that he could “finish up” his “school shooter outfit.”
Ward said that Marcee Gray told him that her son’s interest in guns had gotten “very bad.”
Teens tried to get help, but nothing worked
It was said that Colin Gray talked to school staff about his son’s need for therapy in the weeks before the shooting and sent in a form. However, he did not follow up to make sure his son kept his appointments. Colin Gray told the school psychologist that he might not be able to pay for the care.
Concern was raised about Colin Gray by a campus official, who filled out and sent in a form for school counseling. However, Ward said that Colt Gray did not show up to school on the days he was supposed to for counseling before the killing.
Also, Colin Gray did not use the counseling services that were given by a third party. Ward said that when they asked Colin Gray about it, he said it was because he needed to take care of his insurance.
The Gray family had planned to take Colt Gray to a therapy service in Athens, Georgia, but Ward said that plans fell through because his parents got into a fight the day before.
Colin and Marcee Gray got some scary texts from Colt on the day of the shooting, just minutes before the first shots were fired. Colt is said to have texted his dad that it wasn’t his fault and told his mom “I’m sorry.”
Marcee Gray called Apalachee and begged staff to help her find her son, but Colin Gray did not call.
Colin Gray’s younger daughter texted him to say that her middle school was locked down. Colin Gray dropped his son off at school early one day because he was worried. He turned on the TV and saw that there had been a shooting there.
When Barrow County sheriff’s deputies showed up at his door that day, Colin Gray said he wasn’t too shocked because he had just gotten a text message from his daughter. He then told the deputies out loud, “God almighty, please tell me that your brother didn’t do something,” Ward said.
Ward said that Colin Gray didn’t seem sorry when the cops showed up.
In a separate interview, Colin Gray told Ward Colt that the gun had been in his room for a week, propped up against a guitar in the corner. It wasn’t there when he got home from work, he said.
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