New information has been revealed in the tragic shooting that killed four people at a Georgia high school last week. In the latest update in the case that has the country reeling yet again from insensible violence, family members said that the shooter’s mother had called the school with a warning ahead of the tragedy.
14-year-old Colt Gray shot more than a dozen people on Wednesday September 4, after he sent an upsetting message to his mother that prompted her to contact Apalachee High School and warn of an “extreme emergency” that could follow. The boy’s grandfather, Charles Polhamus, has shared that Gray sent his mother Marcee a cryptic text reading, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
Polhamus said he was with his daughter at his Fitzgerald, Georgia residence when she got the message. At some point before the shooting, Marcee called the high school to warn about an unspecified emergency involving her son, according to her sister Annie Brown. The call to the school lasted 10 minutes and was made just before 10 o’clock on the morning of the shooting, just about half an hour before authorities were called about the incident.
The shooter’s aunt reportedly shares a phone plan with the family, giving her access to the calling log including those made by Marcee. Gray’s mother and grandmother started driving the 200 miles from Fitzgerald to Winder after the phone conversation with the school.
Marcee did not share additional details with the media about why she decided to call the school but shared that she had provided information to the police. She did express to the media that she is “so, so sorry” about the tragedy and sympathized with victims and their families. But confusion still remains as Jud Smith, the sheriff for Barrow County, said earlier in the investigation that he was not aware of a phone call made to the high school prior to last week’s shooting.
The tragedy took place on the morning of Wednesday September 4, when Gray used a gun accessible to him thanks to his father. Four people—two students and two teachers—died from injuries and nine others were taken to the hospital for wounds, none of which are believed to be life-threatening.
According to Chris Hosey of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the 14-year-old suspect was apprehended at the school and arrested while still alive. Now facing murder charges, the boy is going to be “handled” as an adult in the case. Sheriff Smith also shared that Gray surrendered when law enforcement arrived and has been communicating with them in a way that is “helping with our investigation.”
The boy was charged with four counts of murder already, but more charges are expected to be dealt by prosecutors in relation to the victims who sustained injuries in the attack. His father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
He is held somewhat responsible for the shooting because he had “provided a firearm” to his son while knowing that he was a “threat to himself and others.”
