Details have continued to pour about the troubled life of Colt Gray, the 14-year-old accused of killing four of his teachers and classmates in a mass shooting at his Georgia high school on Wednesday.
The teen’s dad, 54-year-old Collin Gray, told officers in an interview last year that his son was often picked on by bullies who’d touch him, pinch him and call out “Colt’s gay.”
The elder Gray’s interview with police came just after his son threatened to shoot up his middle school last year in a post shared on the messaging app Discord.
“He’s going through a lot,” his dad said to a deputy at the time, according to a police transcript obtained by the Daily Beast. “He just wants us to have a simple life. It was very difficult for him to go to school and not get picked on.”
The teen’s dad said Colt’s bullies “ridiculed him day after day.”
The father added: “I worry about him and school and, you know, what would ever happen.”
Now, the father-and-son duo are each staring down what could be a lifetime behind bars. Both made their first appearances in court Friday.
Colt Gray, who will be prosecuted as an adult, faces four counts of felony murder with additional charges still pending.
Collin Gray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, which could have him sent away for as many as 180 years under Georgia law.
Colin Gray, 54, could spend the rest of his life in jail if convicted on all charges.
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office
Collin Gray was arrested Thursday after police said he gifted his son an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas last year, despite having “knowledge he was a threat” to others.
Police said Colt admitted to the slaughter at Apalachee High School but is yet to divulge what exactly drove him to kill. He’s said to have mowed down two teachers, two students, and struck nine others with gunfire before he surrendered to a school resource officer.
One of the people he is charged with killing, 53 year-old math teacher Cristina Irimie, was reportedly celebrating her birthday (belatedly) on the day she was shot—and had brought a cake to school to share with her students.
New images of Colt Gray emerged Friday—taken from since-deleted TikToks shared by a family member, according to the Daily Mail—that showed him smiling next to a dead deer and posing with the same rifle he’s believed to have used to carry out Wednesday’s attack.
Police said Colt Gray’s dad gifted him the gun he used to allegedly kill four people at a Georgia High School.
TikTok
It appears the teen had fantasized about carrying out a mass murder for years. The 2023 Discord post which caught the attention of the FBI read, “im committing a mass shooting and im waiting a good 2-3 years… I cant kill myself yet, cause I’m not contributing anything to culture I need to go out knowing I did.”
He also reportedly posted a photo of two guns with the caption, “I’m ready.”
Police sources also told CNN that Colt had obsessed over other mass killings, including the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
Family members have shared details about his rough childhood, which reportedly saw his parents go through a bitter separation last year. The teen’s younger siblings moved to live with their mom while he stayed under the care of his dad, Collin Gray told police.
Colt Gray made his first appearance in court on Friday.
Brynn Anderson/Reuters
These struggles at home and with school bullies have not lent Colt any sympathy in light of the horrific crime he’s accused of—especially from the loved ones of those murdered.
Emma Angulo, whose 14-year-old son Christian was among those killed, said Friday that she’ll always remember the final hug she shared with her child the night before he was shot dead.
“He gave his father and me a hug; I will always carry that in my heart,” she told Univision. “He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to die like this. I miss him… I wish it was a dream.”
