Recent testimony in Colin Gray’s, the father of the accused Apalachee High School shooter, trial revealed the horrifying moments before the shooting started. On September 4, 2024, moments before chaos, administrators and officers attempted to intercept a freshman student named Colt Gray as his behavior was raising red flags for the school. Unfortunately, they were too late.

Unfortunate Mix-Up

When school administrators and officers arrived at Gray’s second-period math class, they quickly learned he had gone to the bathroom. They followed the trail, and when they got to the bathroom, they found a student named Kolton Gray and took him to the office for questioning. Minutes later, Colt Gray opened fire in the school.

The name mix-up that, if reversed, may have prevented a tragic day for those at Apalachee High. Administrators admitted it was due to Colt only having been at the school a few days, and they did not know what he looked like. The events in those minutes before the shooting were revealed during this week’s trial of Colin Gray, who is facing charges of murder and manslaughter as a result of his son’s actions.

Apalachee School Shooter

The Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia, left four people dead and nine others injured. Colt Gray, the accused shooter, turned himself in to the police and admitted to the shooting when he was 14 years old. Now 16, he is facing 55 felony counts, including malice murder, which he had pleaded not guilty to. His trial period has yet to be set.

This Week’s Trial Highlights

Colin Gray was charged with 29 counts, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege that because he acted recklessly by buying his son a rifle for Christmas, knowing he posed a threat to others due to his mental health status, and allowing him direct access to the weapon, he is partially to blame for the mass shooting. However, the defense argues Colin did not know his son was planning to commit such a heinous crime, or else he would have stepped in.

Colin’s trial has focused on his role as a father, his knowledge of his son’s deteriorating mental health and troubled behavior, and what he did before the attack. Fortunately, dozens of witnesses have also presented key testimony about the events from that day and have painted the jury a picture of the preventable tragedy. There were clearly many “what-if” moments that have shocked and disappointed many in the courtroom. 

Testimony from this past week has revealed the alarming actions and statements made by Colt Gray before the shooting, and how nothing was done in reaction. But also focused on the school’s efforts to locate him the day it happened, and the shooting itself. 

Moments Before The Shooting

Suzanne Harris, Colt Gray’s first-period teacher, testified to his comments and actions that morning that raised serious concern. He asked her if the school had done any active shooter drills, and she testified that, “It was a little bit alarming, and I did send an email to the counselor in regards to that.” She said he was wearing a backpack with a large poster sticking out the top. 

When he left her classroom, she reported to an administrator that she believed he had a gun. “I felt in every fiber of my being that something was wrong,” she said. Unfortunately, her instincts were spot on. The poster that was sticking out was wrapped around part of the firearm, and it read “Happy Mama’s Day.”

Around 9:40 a.m., Colt sent several messages to his father that raised concern. “I’m sorry,” he wrote to his father. “It’s not ur fault.” Although Colin responded to his son while he was at work, he got no response, so he called his estranged wife, Marcee. She called the school’s guidance counselor, Lisa Butler, to ask them to check on Colt. Butler testified to this conversation and elaborated that she learned Colt had access to a firearm and an unhealthy obsession with school shooters.

Butler relayed the conversation to the assistant principal, who then gathered two school resource officers and began searching for Colt. When they thought they had found him, their guard was down, but they quickly realized the mix-up. Unfortunately, it was not quick enough because Colt Gray opened fire on the unsuspecting.