By Brooke Mallory, OAN Staff
Friday, September 6, 2024 5:17 PM
Colt Gray, the 14-year-old who shot dead a Georgia high school, was called “gay” by classmates and other boys, his father told detectives during questioning last year.
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Collin Gray, 54, made the allegations in a statement during investigation by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office last year after an FBI report said his son had made a shooting threat at a middle school.
“It was very hard for me to go to school without being bullied,” Collin Gray, 54, told investigators, according to a recording of the conversation obtained by the news outlet.
“From that to that… I was trying to get him on the golf team… [the other students were like] “Yeah, look… Colt's gay. He's dating that guy,” his father continued.
“I just mocked him every single day.”
Gray, 14, is being charged as an adult in connection with the deaths of Richard Aspinwall, 39, Christina Irimy, 53, and Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Additionally, nine people were injured in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday. The names of those injured have not been released.
About 50 spectators gathered in the courtroom Friday morning for back-to-back hearings for Gray and his father, who is also charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the case.
Investigators said Collin Gray told police this week that he bought the gun used in the shooting as a Christmas gift for his son in December.
Deputies interviewed Gray, who was 13 at the time, after receiving a tip from the FBI that Gray “may have threatened to shoot up a middle school tomorrow.” The threat was made on Discord, a social platform popular among young people who play video games, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
“I've been waiting a few years to commit a mass shooting… I can't kill myself yet because I haven't contributed anything to the culture. I need to go out knowing I have,” he wrote, adding, “I'm ready,” along with a photo of two guns.
CNN The 14-year-old boy also reportedly consistently discussed the Sandy Hook shooting and transgender issues.
Additionally, Colt's grandfather, Charles Polhamus, had this to say about his grandson: CNN “He was just a good kid, but he lived in a hostile environment.”
“His father beat him – I mean not physically, but screaming and yelling – and he did the same to my daughter,” Ms Polhamus alleged.
During a police interview in May 2023, the father, Colin, revealed that he had recently split with his son's mother, claiming that “his mother took her two younger children and left him in the care of Colt, who was struggling at Jefferson Middle School.”
Collin went on to say that he was trying to teach his son about firearms and get him interested in hunting and the outdoors in order to “get him away from video games.”
The father then gave the officer a photo of Colt covered in blood and told officers it was “the best day of his life” after his son shot his first deer while hunting.
“He knows the seriousness of the weapon and what it does and how to use it or not use it,” Collin Gray said, according to records obtained from the sheriff's office.
“All the guns are gone,” Collin told authorities, according to the report. [would] He told her to “get out” and said he would be “furious” if he found out his son was making threats or planning anything unusual.
The boy appeared in court Friday wearing shackles, gray sweatpants and a green T-shirt. He bowed his head, hid his face behind his hair and spoke only in whispers to Judge Callie Mingledorf. When asked to identify himself by name, he replied, “Yes, I am.”
Meanwhile, his father entered the same courtroom shortly after his son and broke down in tears as he was charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse.
“I want to be clear that the penalties do not include the death penalty. Penalties include life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or life imprisonment with the possibility of parole,” Judge Mingledorf said.
A 2005 Supreme Court ruling banned the execution of offenders who committed crimes under the age of 18.
When investigators questioned the boy last year about threatening Discord posts, he denied threatening to carry out a school shooting, according to the sheriff's report.
“We haven't cut corners on this at all,” Jackson County Sheriff Janice Mangum said. Associated Press“We did the best we could with what we had at the time.”
The boy was reportedly obsessed with other notorious school shooters, such as Parkland, Florida, killer Nikolas Cruz.
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