Father of accused Georgia school shooter was aware of son's deadly obsession: prosecutors
Troubling new details about the in September were released by investigators in a Barrow County courtroom Wednesday.
The preliminary hearing for Colin Gray, the father of accused school shooter Colt Gray, revealed the 14-year-old hid an assault-style rifle in a poster board while on the bus, a notebook with details of the shooting was left on his desk in math class and the father was aware of his son's obsession with school shooters.
Colt Gray is accused of and injuring nine others at the high school in Winder on Sept. 4. Because he's a juvenile, the maximum penalty he would face is .
Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder related to the shooting. Arrest warrants said he caused the deaths of others "by providing a firearm to Colt Gray with knowledge that he was threat to himself and others."
Investigators said on the morning of the shooting Colt was seen in surveillance video hiding the assault-style rifle in a poster board that looked like a school project, learned in court.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Agent Kelsey Ward also detailed how Colt had a shrine above his home computer for Nikolas Cruz, the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to The Associated Press.
State agents added a notebook Colt left behind at school included pages labeled "hallway" and "classroom" at the top.
In the hallway column, it read "I'm thinking 3 to 4 people killed. Injured? 4 to 5," GBI agent Lucas Beyer testified. "Under the classroom column is written 15 to 17 people killed, Injured? 2 to 3."
the notebook contained drawings depicting stick figures with wounds and the words "Shoot the teacher first."
Ward also testified, according to CNN, that Colt would leave letters in his gaming room in "plain sight" and described himself in the notebook as "depressed," "delirious" and "eager to die."
During an interview with Colt's mother, , she mentioned her son made jokes about school shootings and asked his father to buy an all-black shooter mask because he had to "finish up" his "school shooter outfit," Ward told the court.
Colt's parents had discussed their son's fascination with school shooters, but decided that it was in a joking context and not a serious issue, Ward added.
The GBI confirmed in September that Colin his son to possess a gun that was used in the shooting at Apalachee High School.
The victims were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, a 14-year-old student; Christian Angulo, a 14-year-old student; Richard Aspinwall, a teacher; and Christina Irimie, another teacher.
Colt and his father were after receiving a tip from the FBI about an online threat to carry out a "school shooting."
In a report obtained by The National Desk, investigators noted they left the Gray home after the teen "assured" one of them he never made any threats to shoot up any school.
It added that the teen's father was advised to keep the firearms "locked away" and to keep him out of school "until this matter could be resolved."
The investigator informed the father that the tip sent to the FBI could not be substantiated and further action could not be taken.
The judge on Wednesday decided that prosecutors met the standard to continue their case against the father, and the case will now move to Superior Court.
