Colin Gray, the father of the teenager accused of killing four people at a Georgia high school, was aware of his son’s deteriorating mental state and fascination with campus shootings, investigators testified Wednesday during a hearing that revealed troubling new details about what led up to the rampage.
At Colin Gray’s preliminary hearing, chilling information was disclosed regarding what was discovered in the Gray residence on September 4 – the day of the Apalachee High School shooting – including a notebook featuring Colt Gray’s drawings of stick creatures with wounds. “Shoot the teacher first” was scrawled alongside the photographs.
Prosecutors called investigators to the stand in a Barrow County courtroom to back up 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 despite knowing his volatile son was dealing with anger and anxiety.
Investigators created a picture of a home in which warning signs of impending violence were ignored or not addressed adequately. According to Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Kelsey Ward, Colt created a shrine to school shootings, which included at least one photo of the Parkland, Florida, shooter.
A message found in the game room said, “Forgive me.” It is outside of my control. “See you.”
Finally, a magistrate judge ruled that Colin Gray, who was shackled and dressed in an orange and white jail jumpsuit, had enough probable cause to stand trial on the charges against him: four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
According to veteran federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin, this is only the second time in America that a parent has been charged in connection with a mass shooting committed by a juvenile.
CNN has contacted Colin Gray’s attorneys for comment. They did not bring any witnesses at the hearing, but they did query the investigators about comments showing Colin Gray had filed a school form requesting assistance for Colt.
Meanwhile, Colt Gray, 14, will face adult charges, according to authorities. He is facing four counts of criminal murder. He informed authorities “I did it” when being questioned, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.
A fixation with weapons and school shootings
Ward testified that Colt Gray planned his activities at Apalachee High School in notebooks.
During an interview following the incident, which injured nine people, Colin Gray revealed in detail how he spent time attempting to get his son interested in a hobby he enjoyed: hunting and shooting.
Investigators said that drawings in notebooks discovered in the home depicted Colt Gray carrying out a gunshot using stick figures, which would result in his suicide.
Ward stated that the youngster left notes in his gaming room in “plain sight” informing his parents that it was not their fault and requesting forgiveness. Colt Gray described himself in his notebooks as “depressed,” “delirious,” and “eager to die.”
Ward described the memorial as having newspaper clippings of weeping children and Parkland school gunman Nikolas Cruz tacked to a wall. When Colin Gray asked his son who that was, Colt Gray explained, and the issue was “dropped” from there.
During an interview with Colt Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, Ward stated that her son made lighthearted jokes about school shootings and had asked his father to get a shooter mask so that he could “finish up” his “school shooter outfit.”
Marcee Gray stated that her son’s fascination with weapons had gotten “very bad,” according to Ward.
Attempts to seek teen assistance went nowhere.
Investigators stated that Colin Gray contacted school administrators in the weeks leading up to the shooting about his son’s need for therapy and submitted a form, but he failed to follow up and guarantee his son made appointments. According to a school counselor, Colin Gray has expressed concern about his ability to pay for the care.
Colin Gray had filled up and submitted a form for school counseling after a campus official expressed concern, but he did not attend school on the days before the shooting, according to Ward.
Colin Gray also did not follow up on counseling sessions provided by an outside agency. When queried about it, Colin Gray stated it was a matter of arranging his insurance, Ward added.
The Grays meant to take Colt Gray to counseling facilities in Athens, Georgia, but an incident between his parents the day before derailed those plans, Ward said.
Colin and Marcee Gray received worrisome text messages from Colt just minutes before the first shots were fired. Colt apparently texted his father that it was not his fault and said “I’m sorry” to his mother.
Marcee Gray called Apalachee, pleading with staff to find her son, but Colin Gray did not.
Colin Gray received texts from his younger daughter stating that her middle school was on lockdown. Colin Gray returned home early from work, turned on the television, and discovered that a shooting had occurred at his son’s school.
When Barrow County sheriff’s deputies arrived at his home that day, Colin Gray remarked in a “not very surprised matter” that he had received a text from his daughter and shouted out loud to the deputies, “God almighty, please tell me that your brother didn’t do something,” Ward testified.
Colin Gray did not appear sorry after the deputies arrived, Ward testified.
During a separate interview, Colin Gray stated that Ward Colt had the weapon in his room, propped up against a guitar in the corner, for a week before the incident, but it was no longer there when he arrived home from work.
Article Source: Father of Georgia School Shooter Knew of Son’s Deteriorating State, Say Investigators, Who Found Notebook With Disturbing Drawings
