The baby-faced teen arrested Wednesday at a start-of-the-semester mass shooting at his Georgia high school that left four dead and nine wounded has been pictured for the first time.
The gunman, named by authorities as 14-year-old Colt Gray – who reportedly had an obsession with other infamous school shooters such as Parkland, Florida killer Nikolas Cruz – opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder short after 10:20 am, police say.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Gray immediately surrendered when confronted by school resource officers at the scene. He has since been charged with four felony counts of murder, and will be tried as an adult, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed.
Two students and two teachers were dead inside the school building – on its first day of classes after the summer break – by the time he laid down his AR-style weapon.
Students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspenwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were named as the deceased.
When police searched the teen’s Georgia home following the bloodbath, they reportedly found clues the teenager was ‘obsessed’ with mass shootings – specifically the Parkland massacre in 2018, which left 17 people dead.
Colt Gray (pictured) opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder shortly after 10.20am – killing two classmates and two teachers
Pictured: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz in court. Investigators said to have found clues he was ‘obsessed’ with the 2018 massacre, which left 17 people dead
Gray was known to the FBI after several tips came in about him last year.
In May 2023, officers from Jackson County questioned both Gray and his father about a Discord channel believed to be linked to the then-13-year-old which allegedly made threats about a school shooting.
The Discord account had a user name written in Russian, and the translation of the letters spelled out the name Lanza, referencing Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary school tragedy, officers said.
Gray denied he was the author of the threats, telling police he’d shut down his Discord after being repeatedly hacked. He expressed concerns that someone would make those accusations about him.
According to the NYT, Gray’s father Colin told investigators at the time that his son ‘knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them.’
Colin reportedly assured officers that he would be ‘mad as hell’ if he learned the allegations about his son making threats were true, and that ‘all the guns [would] go away.’
Online, his aunt vowed ‘full throttle blood’ as she claimed he’d been subjected to ‘abuse’ his entire life. Those comments were deleted last night after a barrage of backlash.
Gray remains in juvenile custody in Georgia, awaiting his first court appearance, which is scheduled for Friday morning. He will be charged as an adult, sheriffs said.
A huge police presence descended on Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on Wednesday after officials said the student opened fire, injuring nine and killing four
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, an autistic student at Apalachee High School, was the first victim to be identified. Christian Angulo, 14, also lost his life in the senseless shooting
Teacher Richard Aspinwall was named as one of the four victims of the shooting. Christina Irimie was also identified as a victim
It is unclear how the 14-year-old got ahold of the weapon that was used in the attack, and authorities have not yet said what kind of firearm was used.
Sheriff Smith revealed that Wednesday was Gray’s first ‘real day’ at Apalachee High.
He said: ‘He was a brand new student to Barrow County Schools, he had enrolled about two weeks prior. This was his second day at school. He had been before, he left early, on that day and this was his first real full day.’
According to law enforcement, Gray opened fire at approximately 10:23am, hitting at least 13 people as frantic scenes took over the school.
Images showed students streaming out onto the campus as terrified parents raced to find their children, with one mother describing the scene outside the school as pure ‘chaos.’
A junior at the school, Lyela Sayerath, said she was sat next to Colt Gray in algebra class minutes before he began the shooting spree.
She told CNN that Colt left the classroom at the beginning of their class at 9:45am, around 30 minutes before active shooter alerts sounded.
Gray didn’t take a bathroom pass, she said, leading her to initially think he was merely skipping class – before a loudspeaker announcement told teachers to check their emails.
Shortly after, Sayerath said Gray returned outside their classroom, and a student got up to open the door for him before jumping back at the sight of his gun.
‘I guess he saw we weren’t going to let him in. And I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open, so I think he just started shooting in the classroom,’ she said.
Sayerath said Gray proceeded to fire off a number of bullets ‘one after another’, adding: ‘When we heard it, most people just dropped to the floor and like kind of crawled in an area like piled on top of each other.’
Horrific details from inside classrooms have emerged – depicting the chilling chaos students endured as gunshots rang out this morning
One mother described the scenes outside the high school as ‘chaos’
Sayerath said her friend was in the next classroom and witnessed someone being shot, which left him ‘shaken up’. ‘He saw somebody get shot. He had blood on him. He was kinda limping. He looked horrified,’ she added.
As information floods in on the school shooting – officially the deadliest in Georgia’s history – students and parents shared their shock at the horror that unfolded.
One mother, Erin Clark, shared the text exchange she had with her son Ethan from the moment he learned there was an active shooter at his school.
He wrote: ‘school shooting rn (right now). I’m scared. I’m not joking.’
His mom responded instantly, assuring him that she was leaving work. In a heartbreaking response, Ethan wrote: ‘I love you.’
‘Love you too baby. Where are you?’ Clark said. Ethan told her that he was in class, adding ‘someone’s dead.’
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Gray immediately surrendered when confronted by law enforcement, and ‘gave up and got on the ground’
Heartbroken students have been arriving outside school grounds in a steady stream on Thursday to mourn the tragedy.
A makeshift memorial has been created using a wreath and flowers. On Thursday, families and students stopped by the somber scene to pay their respects to the lives lost in the tragedy.
President Joe Biden issued a statement condemning gun violence after the tragedy.
He said: ‘What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart.
‘Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write.
‘We cannot continue to accept this as normal.’
Biden called on Congress to say ‘enough is enough’ and pass new gun safety legislation, describing gun violence as an ‘epidemic.’
Heartbroken students have been arriving outside school grounds in a steady stream on Thursday to mourn the tragedy
On Thursday, families and students stopped by the somber scene to pay their respects to the lives lost in the tragedy
A makeshift memorial has been created using a wreath and flowers
