The grandfather of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray believes the boy's father deserves death penalty for his involvement in the tragedy. Colin Gray is facing four counts of manslaughter and two counts of second-degree murder, amid allegations that he provided his son with the AR-15-style rifle used in Wednesday's massacre at Apalachee High School.
Gray's former father-in-law Charles Polhamus said that the 14-year-old was " driven by his father to do what he did," as it was revealed that Colt's grandmother had visited the school just hours before the shooting to discuss his behavior. Colt's mother, Marcee Gray also sent texts to the school warning them of the shooting.
Grandfather Demands Death Penalty for Son-in-Law
"Spending 11 years with that son of a bitch screaming and hollering every day — it can affect anybody," Polhamus, 81, told the New Yok Post of his 54-year-old ex-son-in-law, who was married to his daughter Marcee.
"He's evil," Polhamus said of Gray. "They couldn't, they didn't survive in it," he said of the family.
Gray, 54, appeared in court on Friday following his arrest in connection with the shooting that resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers, and left nine others injured.
The alleged shooter's parents separated in 2022 after being evicted from their home, and Colt was living with Gray at the time of the incident.
"Colt has to pay for what he did, but I'm telling you, he was driven, no question in my mind," Polhamus said. "He was driven by his father to do what he did. That's as plain as I can put it, and I know I'm right.
"Colt is like a lot of young kids these days with the tablets and some of the garbage they pull up, the blood and all the fighting.
"If you don't think that has an impact on young kids, you're missing the boat, and that was also part of Colt's problem.
"It's part of it — and living with a dysfunctional dad who was a screamer and a hollerer.
"No question about it. Prior to going through this, he was a good kid. I will preach that forever."
Couldn't Stop the Massacre
Polhamus said that his wife, Deborah, visited the school the day before the shooting due to growing family concerns about Colt. "They were having some problems with him not going to school, and this kind of thing," he told CBS.
"My wife had gone up there the day before and met with the teachers to get him some."
Polhamus spoke out after reports surfaced that his daughter, Marcee Gray, had alerted her son's school to an "extreme emergency" just minutes before the shooting began.
In text messages reviewed by the Washington Post, the mother informed her sister, "I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him."
The report also said that a call log from the family's shared phone plan indicated Gray made a 10-minute call to the school at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday, roughly 30 minutes before Colt allegedly started shooting.
Following the call, she drove toward the school, which was over three hours away. However, she found out halfway there that the tragedy she was trying to avert had already occurred.
"I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school," he told her sister.
Other text exchanges reported by Marcee's sister revealed that both Colt's school and family had been discussing his worsening mental health for at least a week before the shooting.
Marcee's father, Charles Polhamus, told The New York Post that Colt had sent an apology text to his mother before the shooting, which led her to contact the school.
According to Gray's sister, Annie Brown, who spoke to the NY Post, a school counselor told Marcee that her son had been discussing school shootings earlier that day. Reports soon emerged that Apalachee High School had received a warning that the tragedy could unfold.
Brown also said that Marcee was told by a counselor that her son had been behaving disturbingly that morning and had been talking ominously about school shootings.
Marcee had earlier been restricted by a court order from having extensive contact with Colt's father, Colin, after she admitted to a charge of family violence in December.
The couple separated in 2022 following an eviction, and their family faced involvement with Georgia's child welfare services during this period of upheaval.
In May 2023, local cops visited the family after receiving an FBI tip about potential threats of a school shooting. Colt denied making these threats, and Colin told the police that although he kept hunting rifles in the home, his son was not permitted to handle them unsupervised.
