Prosecutors say father of accused Georgia school shooter ignored warnings

WINDER, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The trial of Colin Gray - whose son is charged in the Sept. 4, 2024, mass shooting at Apalachee High School - began Monday with opening statements.

Colin Gray is charged in connection with the Sept. 4, 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four people and wounded nine others. His son Colt Gray, now 16, is accused of carrying out the attack using an AR-style rifle.

Colin Gray was arrested shortly after his son’s arrest and is facing 29 felony counts.

Prosecutors told jurors Monday Colin Gray repeatedly ignored warning signs about his son’s deteriorating mental health and kept a rifle accessible despite being told to restrict the teen’s access to guns.

“This is not a case about holding parents accountable for what children do,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said during opening statements. “This case is about this defendant and his actions, allowing his child access to a firearm.”

Smith outlined a timeline of alleged missed opportunities and ignored red flags spanning three years before the shooting.

In 2022, when Colt Gray was 11, Smith said he searched online for “abuse” and “how to kill your dad.” School resource officers visited the family, who moved away six weeks later.

In May 2023, the FBI contacted local authorities about threats made in a Discord chat room. A user had threatened to shoot up an elementary school, claiming access to guns. Colin Gray told police the account had been hacked but never mentioned his son’s previous online searches.

>> Colin Gray’s Apalachee school shooting trial | What you need to know

“Please restrict Colt’s access to guns,” Smith said, referencing the police recommendation.

Seven months later, Colin Gray bought his son an AR-style rifle as a Christmas present and allowed him to keep it in his room, prosecutors said.

Mental health deterioration

Smith described Colt Gray’s worsening condition throughout 2024. He said his family gave him his mother’s prescription Zoloft without taking him to a doctor. Colt Gray alleged put up photos of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz in what prosecutors called a “shrine.”

The teen allegedly told his father “whenever something happens, just know the blood is on your hands” and asked for 150 rounds of ammunition. He allegedly reported hearing voices telling him what to do.

Despite concerns Colt Gray needed to be institutionalized, his parents searched for mental health facilities but never followed through, Smith said.

“The rifle stays in his room,” Smith repeatedly told jurors.

Day of the shooting

On Sept. 4, 2024, which was Colt Gray’s fifth day at the new school after being out of school for 15 months, Smith said Colt Gray allegedly hid the rifle in his backpack behind a poster board.

During first period, he allegedly asked his teacher about active shooter drills. At 9:54 a.m., he allegedly told his teacher he was going to the counselor’s office but instead allegedly locked himself in a bathroom for 26 minutes.

Colt Gray’s mother allegedly called the school counselor about concerning text messages, allegedly telling the counselor Colt Gray had access to firearms.

Smith said at 10:21 a.m., wearing work gloves and carrying the concealed rifle, Colt Gray walked to his second-period classroom. When he couldn’t get in, he allegedly opened fire on an adjacent classroom, killing Christian Angulo and wounding several students.

>> Full coverage of the Apalachee High School shooting

Law enforcement secured Colt Gray at 10:02 a.m. and allegedly found three loaded magazines in his pockets.

When officers arrived at the Gray residence, police said Colin Gray immediately said, “I knew it. My little girl just texted me she’s in middle school she said we’re in lockdown. Please tell me your brother didn’t do something.”

Officers allegedly found photos of the Parkland shooter in Colt’s room.

Defense: Father didn’t know plan

Defense attorney Brian Hobbs argued Colin Gray was an involved father who was actively seeking mental health help for his son.

“Your job is to decide whether Colin Gray knew what he was going to do,” Hobbs said. “You cannot hold someone criminally responsible for failing to predict someone else’s actions.”

The defense said Colt Gray allegedly had hidden notes on his phone planning a shooting for February 2025 to coincide with the Parkland anniversary, but accelerated his timeline. Colin Gray had scheduled a mental health appointment for Colt Gray on Sept. 5, 2024, the day after the shooting.

“This is not an absent father,” Hobbs said. “He was not ignoring the problem. He was acting.”

Hobbs also said the rifle used in the shooting was not in Colt Gray’s room the morning of the shooting.

First witnesses testify

Lt. Barry Chandler of the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office walked jurors through the shooter’s route during the incident, and where the bodies of students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, and teachers Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, were found.

Deputy Barrow County School Superintendent Matthew Thompson showed surveillance video of Colt Gray boarding the school bus that morning with a backpack that allegedly concealed the rifle.

Colt Gray’s first-period teacher, Suzanne Harris, testified she became alarmed when the teen asked about active shooter drills that morning.

Harris said she noticed a poster board sticking out of Colt’s backpack that looked odd and was wrapped in clothing. The bag appeared heavy and Colt Gray had difficulty carrying it.

“I just felt in every fiber of my being that something was wrong,” Harris said.

Harris testified she emailed the school counselor at 8:46 a.m. flagging her concerns, then went directly to the counselor’s office to report she thought Colt Gray had a gun.

Later that morning, Harris testified she heard the gunshots.

Name confusion delayed response

Catherine Greer, Colt Gray’s second-period teacher, testified about confusion that may have delayed the school’s response.

When the assistant principal came to her classroom looking for a student after Harris’ warning, Greer testified she thought Harris was asking for “Colton Gray,” a student with a similar name who had also gone to the restroom. The assistant principal took Colton Gray for questioning instead of Colt Gray.

When the assistant principal returned asking specifically for Colt Gray, Greer said he had gone to the counseling office. Staff began searching the school for Colt Gray.

Greer became emotional on the witness stand as she described Colt Gray allegedly returning to her locked classroom with the rifle visible.

Sheriff describes aftermath

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith testified about the immediate aftermath of the shooting, including helping wounded students and notifying families.

Smith described rendering aid to a student named Natalie, who told him, “Do not cover me with that sheet, don’t cover my face. Please don’t let me die.”

“I said, ‘We’re not going to let that happen,’” Smith testified.

The sheriff also described the difficult task of meeting with the families of victims Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo to tell their parents “their babies had been murdered.”

A jury of eight men and seven women was chosen for Colin Gray’s trial.

Colin Gray’s trial is the nation’s second judicial case against the parents of an alleged school shooter.

Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents ever convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting case. Their son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time, was convicted of killing four students and injuring seven others at Oxford High School in November 2021.

Both were convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each victim killed, and each was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison in April 2024.

At the time of that reported threat, police contacted Colin Gray, who told police there were guns in the house that Colt had access to, and he was trying to teach his son about firearm safety.

Jury selection was conducted in Hall County and will also use Hall County jurors, but his actual trial will be held in Barrow County, where the shooting took place.

Colt Gray, whose trial date has not been set, is charged with four counts of felony murder, four counts of malice murder, four counts of aggravated battery, 25 counts of aggravated assault and 18 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.

Teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie and 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were killed during the shooting. The maximum penalty for each of Colt Gray’s four felony murder charges is life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.

Colin Gray is facing 29 felony counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, several counts of second-degree cruelty to children and reckless conduct. He is facing up to 180 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Both Colin Gray and Colt Gray have pleaded not guilty.

Nicholas Primm, the chief judge of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit who is presiding over the case, said he expects Colin Gray’s trial to last about three weeks.

>> Full coverage of the Apalachee High School shooting

Barrow County and Hall County are about 27 miles apart. Primm has agreed with prosecutors and defense attorneys that Colin Gray would not face a jury of Barrow County residents.

Atlanta News First will stream the trial gavel-to-gavel when opening statements begin.

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