Apalachee High School community reacts to guilty verdict in Colin Gray trial

by Tracey Peer

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — An Apalachee High School graduate said she was surprised that Colin Gray was found guilty on all charges related to the 2024 school shooting in which Gray’s son is a suspect.

Layla Contreras graduated from Apalachee High School and her sister still attends the school. Her sister was in the building on the day of the shooting.

“This whole trial has been an emotional roller coaster for everyone involved, our students, our teachers, our school resource officers,” Contreras said.

Contreras, who co-founded the advocacy group Change for Chee, said she’s glad that parents will now be held more accountable for their children’s actions, but that the guilty verdict came as a surprise.

“After reading a lot of the comments online and hearing a lot of points of view, I was not expecting this to happen in the state of Georgia. There are no clear laws that define what parents are responsible for in terms of access to weapons and such, so I think this does lay the groundwork,” Contreras said.

Contreras says the group will continue to push for layers of safety as their community continues to heal from the tragic shooting.

She said the group will be watching the trial of the alleged shooter, Gray.

“We’ll just take it as it comes...and I just hope justice is served for the 4 people that were lost that day,” Contreras said.

The Barrow County School System released a statement after the guilty verdict, saying in part, “We are thankful to those in our community — the District Attorney’s office, first responders, law enforcement, our staff, and so many others — who cared for us and helped guide us through difficult times.”