Colt Gray confessed, "I did it," to investigators despite being read his Miranda rights after his arrest for the shooting that killed four people at his Georgia high school. The 14-year-old was arrested on Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, shortly after authorities claim he began shooting at students and teachers.
According to CNN, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said that Colt continued to speak with authorities even after his rights were read to him. The revelations come as Gray's father, Colin, 54, has been arrested by local authorities and faces charges including two counts of murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Father Equal Culprit
Officials announced in a press conference that these charges are related to Colin's alleged action of "knowingly allowing" his son access to the firearm used in the shooting. Gray received the gun he used to kill four people at his Georgia high school as a Christmas gift from his father, months after the FBI had questioned them about alleged threats.
Colin Gray has told authorities that he purchased the firearm for his son as a holiday gift. He has not yet made any public statements regarding the shooting.
This was just a few months after both the teenager and his father were interviewed by local law enforcement due to online threats about a potential school shooting made on the gaming social-media platform Discord, according to investigators.
The teen was questioned after the sheriff received a tip from the FBI that Gray, then 13, might have threatened to carry out a school shooting. The threat was made on Discord, which is popular among gamers, according to the sheriff's office report.
The FBI's tip linked the threat to a Discord account associated with an email address connected to Colt Gray. However, the boy claimed "he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner," according to the investigator's report.
The interview transcript quotes the teen as saying: "I promise I would never say something where ..." with the rest of that denial listed as inaudible.
The investigator noted that no arrests were made due to "inconsistent information" on the Discord account. The account had profile details in Russian and a digital footprint suggesting it had been accessed from various locations in Georgia as well as Buffalo, New York.
Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said that after reviewing the May 2023 report, she found no evidence that would have warranted pressing charges at that time.
Troubled Past, Mental Health Issues
The Discord account had a username in Russian, which, when translated, spelled "Lanza," a reference to Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter, according to the officers.
Gray denied being the author of the threats, telling police he had shut down his Discord account after it was repeatedly hacked. He expressed concern over the accusations made against him.
The New York Times reported that Gray's father, Colin, told investigators at the time that his son understood the seriousness of weapons, including how and when to use them.
Colin reportedly assured the officers that he would be "furious" if he found out the allegations about his son making threats were true and that he would remove all the guns from their home.
Gray was reportedly fixated on other notorious school shooters, including Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the Parkland, Florida massacre.
By the time he surrendered his AR-style weapon, two students and two teachers were dead inside the school building, on what was the first day of classes after summer break.
The victims were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, along with teachers Richard Aspenwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
When police searched the teen's Georgia home after the tragic incident, they reportedly found evidence that he was "obsessed" with mass shootings, particularly the 2018 Parkland tragedy that claimed 17 lives.
Gray's family has remained silent when approached by reporters.
However, Gray's aunt, Annie Polhamus Brown, posted on Facebook in the aftermath, highlighting the several challenges he had "dealt with" and saying that she "will take care of my nephew and what he needs on this side."
Gray is currently being held in juvenile detention in Georgia, with his initial court appearance set for Friday morning.
