The mother of alleged Apalachee High School shooter Colin Gray called to warn a school counselor before the attack, CNN reports. The network cites information received from the suspect’s aunt and grandfather.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports that Marcee Gray called Apalachee High School to warn of an unspecified “extreme emergency” involving her son, who lived with his dad. The Post reports that it is possible officials at Apalachee High School may have been looking for Colt Gray in the minutes before the violence broke out.
Marcee Gray placed a 10-minute call to the school at 9:50 a.m. – 30 minutes before police were notified of the attack, the Washington Post reports.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and Piedmont Judicial Circuit’s District Attorney’s Office have not responded to Now Habersham’s requests for comment in an attempt to verify these claims.
Colt Gray’s maternal grandfather, Charles Polhamus, told reporters he was standing near his daughter at his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, when she received a text message from her son saying, “I’m sorry, mom.”
Marcee Gray then reportedly placed a 10-minute call to the school at 9:50 a.m. – about 30 minutes before police were notified of the shooting. After the phone conversation, Polhamus said, his daughter and her mother then began the 200-mile drive from Fitzgerald to Winder.
Difficult home life
As details of what happened on the day of the shooting continue to unfold, more is being revealed about the alleged shooter’s home life.
Polhamus told reporters Colin Gray struggled with drug addiction because of a back issue and was verbally abusive to his son and ex-wife.
Gray, 54, has been accused of knowingly allowing his son to possess an AR-15-style rifle – a weapon he admitted giving to his son as a gift, according to the GBI. It is the same weapon Colt Gray is believed to have used in the shooting that killed Apalachee High freshmen Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo and math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie. Nine others injured in the shooting are expected to make full recoveries.
The younger Gray is charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder, among other charges. His father, too, is charged, and Polhamus reportedly said that his former son-in-law “got what he deserved.”
Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
RELATED: Alleged school shooter and father appear in court
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Marcee Gray has a criminal record spanning more than 17 years.
The 43-year-old has faced prosecution in Barrow, Fulton, and Forsyth counties. She has been accused of domestic violence, drug possession, property damage, and traffic violations. Citing court records, the AJC says Gray also faced civil fraud claims tied to a vehicle purchase and was jailed in Ben Hill County as recently as April.
