Grand jury hands up charges against teen, father in Apalachee shooting

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A grand jury handed up dozens of charges on Thursday for the son and father both accused in connection to last month’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School.

Colt Gray, 14, faces 55 counts, including charges of felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault for each of the four people killed. Investigators say Gray brought an AR-style rifle with him to school in a backpack and later opened fire, leaving two students and two teachers dead and nine others injured.

Colt Gray’s father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, faces 29 counts, including second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. Police say he knowingly allowed his son to have access to the gun that was allegedly used in the shooting.

Police have said Colt will tried as an adult; he was booked in the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.

Colt and Colin Gray are expected to be tried separately.

Their next court date will be on Thursday, Nov. 21 in Barrow County.

The grand jury issued the charges a day after revelations came out in court as Colin Gray appeared for a preliminary hearing.

During the hearing, special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the 14-year-old wrote down his plans for the shooting in a notebook recovered from his classroom.

On Sept. 4, two 14-year-old students, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie, were killed in the shooting. Nine others were also hospitalized.

In his notebook, investigators said 14-year-old Colt Gray detailed the layout of the school and how many people he estimated he would kill.

In one section, he wrote to himself, “Take a moment or two to stay calm and really think if I want to do this.” In another, he wrote, “Don’t shoot anyone in the bathroom, you’ll alert people,” according to investigators.

GBI Special Agent Lucas Beyer said Colt had a gun hidden from the moment he stepped off the bus until school resource officers disarmed the teen. Colt went to his first period as normal, but that’s where he left that notebook with his plans behind, according to Beyer.

During his second class of the day, Beyer said Colt asked his teacher if he could see his counselor and took his backpack with him.

Beyer said he pulled out the gun from his backpack and hid it in his waist with posterboard before walking back to the classroom. The door was locked, and as a student got up to let him in, she saw the gun and alerted her teacher. That’s when investigators say the emergency button was pushed, and the shooting began.

Beyer said the teen still had 18 rounds left in the rifle and three more magazines on him when he was captured.

Just before the shooting, Colt texted his father and mother, saying “I’m sorry,” according to investigators. His mother then reportedly called the school and asked them to find Colt.

Meanwhile, Colin left work, went home and turned on the news to find coverage of the shooting, according to investigators.

“God almighty, tell me your brother didn’t do something,” he allegedly told his daughter.

During their search of Colin’s home, investigators found a note Colt wrote to his family before the shooting.

“It says, ‘Just know it’s not your fault. You’ve tried your hardest, not only for me, but for Jenny and Coley. Forgive me as for what I’ve done. It’s out of my control. Know that I love y’all. See ya,’” read Special Agent Kelse Ward.

Investigators said they also found other writings in his room stating he was “depressed” and “eager to die,” alongside more plans for the shooting.

Colt’s gaming room had what investigators described as a “shrine” to other school shooters with photos and newspaper clippings. Colin told investigators he saw the shrine but did not know who the people in the photos were.

Through multiple interviews with the family, the GBI said Colt had access to multiple guns in his father’s home, including the one his father gifted him for Christmas of last year that he kept in his room. That’s the same gun they say was used in the shooting.

The GBI said Colt would frequently ask his father for accessories for his rifle, including a laser sight, a tactical vest, ammunition and a mask — most of which, investigators said, Colt used in the school shooting.

During the hearing, investigators also detailed what happened in the weeks and months leading up to the day of the shooting.

Through interviews with Colin, Colt’s mother and his grandmother, investigators said there were multiple conversations and attempts to get Colt to see a counselor, none of which came to fruition. He saw a counselor at school twice since he was enrolled at Apalachee High at the beginning of this school year.

Colt’s grandmother also revealed Colt would ask her about the 2018 Parkland school shooting and say, “If something terrible happened to me or if I did something terrible, would you still love me?”

When asked if Colin had ever gone through Colt’s phone or computer, the father told investigators his son had never given him a reason to do so.

In May 2023, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office made with the Grays in reference to an FBI tip. Colt denied making any school shooting threats on Discord, a social media app. He told investigators about his anxiety and being bullied.

The GBI said the deputies stated they would take his word on it and left the home.

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