Apalachee school shooter followed online subculture known as ‘TCC’

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Brad Smith, the Barrow County district attorney who has successfully prosecuted both Colt and Colin Gray for their roles in the Apalachee High School mass shooting, had long conversations with his staff about the subculture known as the True Crime Community (TCC).

Smith said they were worried about making the TCC more popular than it is, “but in the end, we decided people need to know about this. This is not an innocent little game some kids play. This needs to be out there.”

On Tuesday, Colt Gray was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing four people and nine others on Sept. 4, 2024.

Colin Gray was convicted earlier this year on all charges in connection to the shooting: two counts of murder in the second degree; two counts of involuntary manslaughter; five counts of reckless conduct; and 18 counts of cruelty to children in the second degree.

On Thursday, Colin Gray will learn how many years he will spend in prison for allowing his son access to the AR-style rifle used in the shooting. He is facing a maximum of 180 years in prison.

Over more than three days of Colt Gray’s sentencing hearing, Piedmont Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm heard prosecutors describe his interest in the TCC.

According to research and intelligence tracking from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, the TCC is an online fandom that treats mass shooters and serial killers as idols. Adherents create fan art, video edits, and memes celebrating murderers, establishing a shared, insular “mythos” around them.

According to the ADL, multiple school shooters have progressed directly from TCC fandom engagement to carrying out deadly attacks in order to achieve “notoriety” and become immortalized by the community.

During Colt Gray’s sentencing hearings, investigators and prosecutors testified the online subculture consists of individuals who are fascinated with, and in some extreme cases glorify, mass shooters and acts of violence.

Prosecutors argued Colt Gray carried out the Apalachee High School shooting not out of anger, but to achieve ultimate, lifelong fame within this community.

“This is something (Colt Gray’s mother) should have noticed,” Smith said. “This is not harmless. We need to start paying attention to kids who are Googling these things and recognize the signs.”

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