Georgia shooting suspect rode bus to school, had gun in backpack, GBI says

ATLANTA — The 14-year-old accused of a mass shooting at Apalachee High School allegedly took the assault-style rifle into the school concealed in his backpack, according to new details released by the GBI.

The state agency said Colt Gray took the weapon into the Barrow County school, which does not have metal detectors, on his own.

“The assault-style rifle could not be broken down, but Gray hid it in his backpack,” the GBI said.

Gray also was allegedly found with a knife in his possession and had a spotty school attendance record in the weeks prior to the Sept. 4 shooting, according to the GBI.

The morning of the shooting, the GBI said Gray rode the bus to school and later asked a teacher if he could go to the front office to speak to someone. The teacher allowed him to leave and take his belongings. Instead of going to the front office, the GBI said Gray went to the restroom and hid from teachers before taking out the rifle and allegedly starting to shoot.

Teachers at the school wear badges that include panic alert buttons, and several were able to notify law enforcement about the shooting. Multiple agencies, including the FBI and GBI, responded to the school around 10:20 a.m. Gray was apprehended at 10:26 a.m., minutes after a shots-fired call came through.

The victims were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and two adults: assistant football coach Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53.

The community gathered to mourn Aspinwall on Sept. 8. Funerals are set Saturday for Irimie and Schermerhorn. The funeral for Angulo is scheduled for Sept. 20.

All of the autopsies have been completed, according to the GBI. Nine other people were injured, but all are expected to survive.

Gray is facing four counts of murder and is being tried as an adult.

His father, Colin, was charged with multiple counts including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children after he allegedly allowed his son to possess the gun.

In May 2023, the FBI received several anonymous tips about someone on the online messaging platform Discord talking about plans to commit a school shooting at an unspecified time and location. Authorities were able to trace that account to Jefferson County and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office followed up by questioning Gray, who denied making the threats.

“I gotta take you at your word, and I hope you’re being honest with me,” Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigator Daniel Miller Jr. told the then-middle schooler before he left the interview.

No charges were filed in that case.

Colt Gray’s grandfather, Charles Polhamus, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he blamed the boy’s father for creating an environment that led to the violence.

“Me personally, I totally blame the father,” said Polhamus, whose daughter is Colt Gray’s mother. “He just as well shot these people as far as I’m concerned. Because I don’t particularly think my grandson would have been the way he was except the environment that he lived in.”

Colt’s mother, Marcee Gray, penned an open letter shared to media outlets in which she described her son as “not a monster” and apologized to the victims.

“If I could take the place of Mason and Christian, I would without a second thought,” she said. “As a parent, I’ve always said that the loss of one of my children would be the only thing that I wouldn’t be able to come back from. I feel all of your pain and devastation. I grieve and cry with you.”

Colt Gray enrolled at Apalachee on Aug. 14, two weeks after school started in Barrow. Between that day and the Sept. 4 shooting, he missed nine days of school, the GBI said.

The school’s principal, Jessica Rehberg, said in a video message posted this week that Apalachee is still working on plans to reopen. Students in other schools within the Barrow County School System returned to class Tuesday.

“You are loved. You are needed,” Rehberg said.

Following initial court appearances, both suspects now have attorneys representing them. Colt Gray has been assigned an attorney from the Georgia Public Defender’s Council; Colin Gray hired private defense attorneys.

Colin Gray, who is being held in the Barrow County jail, has requested to be housed separate from the general population. Colt Gray is being held in the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.

Both declined to ask for bail during their first appearances. Colt Gray is expected to face additional charges, with the grand jury’s next meeting scheduled for Oct. 17. Those additional charges could be presented for indictment at that time.

A tentative Dec. 4 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for both.