The mother of the 14-year-old boy suspected in the Apalachee High School shooting called the school minutes before the shooting to warn her son of an “extreme emergency,” according to The Washington Post.
Marcy Gray, the mother of suspect Colt Gray, texted her sister that she had told a school counselor that “this is an emergency and I want them to go and search right away.” [her son] To check on him.” According to The Post also obtained call records from the family's phone plan showing a 10-minute call from the mother's cellphone to the school at 9:50 a.m., 30 minutes before the shooting began on Sept. 4, according to text messages obtained by The Post at the time.
Marcy's sister, Annie Brown, said the school counselor told Marcy during the call that her son had been talking about a school shooting.
Text messages obtained by The Post from Brown show the family had contacted the school about Colt's mental health in the week before the shooting. Brown also told the family that Colt was having “homicidal and suicidal thoughts,” according to The Post.
Students, faculty, staff and community members gather for prayers and lay flowers following the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4, 2024. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
Brown too said The Post reported that Colt “wanted help from everyone around him” but “the adults around him abandoned him.” Colt allegedly had a difficult home life, and his mother pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges in December 2023 and was ordered to limit her contact with her husband.
The FBI received a tip from local authorities in May 2023 that Colt had made threats and was questioned, but authorities maintained they had no valid grounds for an arrest, and Gray denied making the threats.
Colt is accused of opening fire with an AR-15 style rifle at Apalachee High School, killing four people and wounding nine others, and turning himself in when a school resource officer confronted the boy.
Colt is charged with four felonies. murderGray and his father, Colin Gray, are charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse. The gun Colt used was reportedly a gift from Colin.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation told the Daily Caller News Foundation it will not release details about the investigation at this time and directed all inquiries to the Piedmont Judicial District Attorney's Office.
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