Georgia Statham – A former neighbor of the suspect in the Georgia high school shooting has provided a glimpse into the family's chaotic home.
Fox News Digital spoke with neighbors of 14-year-old Colt Gray in Statham, Georgia, a small town of about 2,000 people where the suspected shooter's family lived until they sold their home in September 2019.
The current owner of Gray's former home, who spoke to Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity, said the house, which sits on about eight acres of land, was in disrepair when he purchased it in 2019.
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Colt Gray's former home in Statham, Georgia, on Saturday, September 7, 2024. (Ben Hendren for Fox News Digital)
A current neighbour said Molly Gray warned his family and the real estate agent about Colin's volatile personality on the day they moved in.
“The day we were closing on the house I was standing there with my wife and the real estate agent and Maury came up to us and told us not to make eye contact with Colin – they called him Cory,” the neighbour said. “Maury said Colin was in a bad mood and didn't know what to do.”
“But when he came in he was on a high,” he said. “Red, glassy eyes. He didn't bother anybody, but he didn't socialize either.”
Neighbors said the children, including Colt, were “left alone” during the move.
“There was very little supervision,” he said.
The childhood home of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect features photos documenting Colt Gray's height by year. (Source: Fox News Digital)
A neighbor showed Fox News Digital the Grays were measuring the colt's growth before his parents' tumultuous divorce.
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The growth chart shows Colt Gray's growth year by year, and his family kept records from 2017 to 2019.
Colt Gray's former home in Statham, Georgia, Saturday, September 7, 2024 (Ben Hendren for Fox News Digital) (Ben Hendren for Fox News Digital)
Other neighbors corroborated the story of Collin Gray's emotional instability, with one elderly neighbor sharing a heartbreaking tale of her brief interaction with Marcy Gray.
“It was daytime, I was home alone, and I saw her. [Marcee] “She came running up our driveway with her baby in her arms,” an elderly neighbor said. “She picked up her baby and ran to the barn out back and started to go in, and all of a sudden I see her husband coming up in his truck and he starts to run towards the barn building.”
“Marcy tried to get into the barn but it was locked. When I saw him [Colin] I ran towards her, got outside and yelled, 'What is going on here?' And he looked up, turned around and stormed off.”
“As she left the building I said, 'I'm here if you need me,'” the neighbor said, “and she thanked me and I never saw her again.”
The next day, the elderly neighbor was greeted by an unexpected note left on her doorstep.
“It said, 'Thank you, you saved my life,'” she said. “And the sign said, 'Mercy.'”
Colt Gray, who is charged with four counts of murder as an adult, leaves the Barrow County Courthouse after his initial appearance in Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Winder, Georgia. (AP Photo/Bryn Anderson, Poole)
Another neighbour said Colt was an unusually “bright and resourceful” child.
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“We took Colt and his brothers on our horses. We only had two at the time,” the neighbor said. “Colt was about 7 or 8 years old at the time. They were really smart and resourceful. They were just the sweetest kids.”
The Gray family was in turmoil after the sale of their Statham, Georgia home and the divorce of their parents meant the three children were separated: Colt went to live with his father, while his two younger brothers initially lived with their mother.
After their divorce, Collin and Colt Gray rented two homes in Jefferson, Georgia, and then moved to Winder, Georgia, where Colt and Collin were living at the time of the tragic Apalachee High School shooting.
Four people were killed and nine injured in the shooting on Wednesday, September 4. The two students killed in the shooting were Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old. Math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimy were also killed, authorities said.
Timeline of the shootings
of The shooting was first reported at 9:30 a.m.Wednesday. The sheriff's office received a call about an active shooter at 10:20 a.m.
GBI Director Chris Hosey said police arrived on the scene “within minutes.”
“Police responded very swiftly to this incident,” Hosey previously said.
The 14-year-old is being tried as an adult and charged with four counts of murder. He allegedly used a semi-automatic AR-style rifle to carry out the shooting.
His father, Colin Gray, facing related charges It's the latest attempt by prosecutors to hold parents responsible for their children's actions in school shootings.
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“You don't have to be physically injured to be a victim,” District Attorney Brad Smith told reporters on Friday. “Everybody in this community is a victim. Every child in that school is a victim.”
