The first mugshot of the 14-year-old who allegedly carried out a school shooting in Georgia has been released.
The tragic event unfolded Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School, leaving two students and two teachers dead.
The shooting claimed four lives. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Colt Gray, 14, is alleged to have opened fire inside the school at approximately 10:30AM, according to details shared by officials during a press conference Wednesday evening, as cited by the New York Post.
The four victims were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie.
A new report by the New York Post has now shed light on Gray’s upbringing.
A former neighbor, Lauren Vickers, who lived next door to the Gray family in Jefferson, Georgia, recounted troubling incidents to the outlet.
“There were nights where the mom would lock him and his sister out of the house. They’d be banging on the back door, just screaming, ‘Mom! Mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she claimed.
Apalachee High School shooting. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Vickers also claimed that the youngest child would sometimes come to her yard asking for food, alleging: “No clean clothes, I’m not exaggerating. It was constant abuse. It’s very, very sad.”
Gray’s mother, Marcee, 43, has a long criminal record, including arrests for drug offenses and domestic violence.
According to Vickers, she frequently drew attention in the neighborhood.
“I would find her in the driveway, passed out, with the car running and music blaring early in the morning,” she said, describing incidents where Marcee allegedly drove her younger child to daycare while intoxicated.
Gray’s father, Colin, 54, reportedly bought his son an AR-15 rifle for Christmas last year, despite a prior FBI investigation into online threats Colt had made.
Authorities now allege this rifle was used in the tragic shooting.
Colt’s maternal grandfather, Charles Polhamus, told CNN: “He was just a good kid who lived in an environment that was hostile. His dad beat up on him – not physically, but screaming and hollering, and he did the same thing to my daughter.”
A mugshot of Colt has since been released following his arrest.
Colt’s mugshot. Credit: Barrow County Sheriff’s Office/Handout
As authorities try to understand Colt Gray’s motive for the shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is reviewing previous contacts between the family and the state’s child protective services agency.
GBI Director Chris Hosey said: “We are pursuing that avenue as well to see if that has any connection with today’s incident.”
The suspect was known to the FBI. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Vickers claimed that despite her repeated calls to child services, little action was taken. “They came, talked to me, and did nothing,” she said.
Gray, who has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, is set to appear in court on Friday.
His motive for the shooting remains unclear as authorities continue to investigate the events that led to the tragic incident.
Featured image credit: Megan Varner / Getty
September 6, 24
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Alleged Georgia school shooter’s mugshot is released as chilling details emerge about his home life
By James Kay
The first mugshot of the 14-year-old who allegedly carried out a school shooting in Georgia has been released.
The tragic event unfolded Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School, leaving two students and two teachers dead.
The shooting claimed four lives. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Colt Gray, 14, is alleged to have opened fire inside the school at approximately 10:30AM, according to details shared by officials during a press conference Wednesday evening, as cited by the New York Post.
The four victims were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie.
A new report by the New York Post has now shed light on Gray’s upbringing.
A former neighbor, Lauren Vickers, who lived next door to the Gray family in Jefferson, Georgia, recounted troubling incidents to the outlet.
“There were nights where the mom would lock him and his sister out of the house. They’d be banging on the back door, just screaming, ‘Mom! Mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she claimed.
Apalachee High School shooting. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Vickers also claimed that the youngest child would sometimes come to her yard asking for food, alleging: “No clean clothes, I’m not exaggerating. It was constant abuse. It’s very, very sad.”
Gray’s mother, Marcee, 43, has a long criminal record, including arrests for drug offenses and domestic violence.
According to Vickers, she frequently drew attention in the neighborhood.
“I would find her in the driveway, passed out, with the car running and music blaring early in the morning,” she said, describing incidents where Marcee allegedly drove her younger child to daycare while intoxicated.
Gray’s father, Colin, 54, reportedly bought his son an AR-15 rifle for Christmas last year, despite a prior FBI investigation into online threats Colt had made.
Authorities now allege this rifle was used in the tragic shooting.
Colt’s maternal grandfather, Charles Polhamus, told CNN: “He was just a good kid who lived in an environment that was hostile. His dad beat up on him – not physically, but screaming and hollering, and he did the same thing to my daughter.”
A mugshot of Colt has since been released following his arrest.
Colt’s mugshot. Credit: Barrow County Sheriff’s Office/Handout
As authorities try to understand Colt Gray’s motive for the shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is reviewing previous contacts between the family and the state’s child protective services agency.
GBI Director Chris Hosey said: “We are pursuing that avenue as well to see if that has any connection with today’s incident.”
The suspect was known to the FBI. Credit: Megan Varner / Getty
Vickers claimed that despite her repeated calls to child services, little action was taken. “They came, talked to me, and did nothing,” she said.
Gray, who has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder, is set to appear in court on Friday.
His motive for the shooting remains unclear as authorities continue to investigate the events that led to the tragic incident.
Featured image credit: Megan Varner / Getty
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Heartbreaking 3-word text 14-year-old school shooting suspect ‘sent his mom minutes before fatal attack’
By Michelle H
The 14-year-old alleged shooter at Apalachee High School reportedly sent his mom a harrowing three-word text just minutes before the attack.
Credit: Barrow County Sheriff’s Office
On September 4, police responded to the school following reports of an active shooter.
The victims at the school in Winder, Barrow County included two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall.
Colt Gray, 14, was arrested on suspicion of carrying out the attack and is expected to be tried as an adult.
Nine others were injured during the shooting. According to CNN, Gray allegedly surrendered when confronted by a school resource officer.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith stated that after his arrest, Gray confessed to investigators, saying: “I did it.”
Credit: Pool / Getty
In the aftermath, troubling details about the days and moments leading up to the shooting have come to light. The Washington Post reported that Gray sent a message apologizing to his mother, Marcee, before the shooting, prompting her to urgently call the school.
Charles Polhamus, Gray’s maternal grandfather, told The Post that his daughter was at his house when she received the message, which allegedly said, “I’m sorry, mom.”
Marcee called the school to alert staff of an “extreme emergency” and later told her sister: “I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school. I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him.”
Credit: Pool / Getty
It was later revealed that the FBI had interviewed Gray in May 2023 following anonymous reports of someone making “online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.”
Gray, interviewed with his father, denied making the threats, and no arrests were made at that time.
The FBI issued a statement saying: “The father stated that he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them […] At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels.”
Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray, has also been arrested in connection with the shooting and faces charges including “four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children,” according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.