Marcee Gray, the mother of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, who allegedly killed four and injured nine last week, claimed in a Monday interview a school counselor emailed on the morning of the shooting to report her child made “references to school shootings,” prompting her hurried call to warn of an “extreme emergency” involving Colt Gray.
The mother revealed in a Tuesday interview with ABC News that she was contacted by an Apalachee High School “counselor” shortly before the attack, which helped prompt her decision to call the school in advance of the shooting, which police say her son confessed to committing.
According to Marcee Gray, a school counselor contacted her on the morning of the shooting. Marcee Gray explained, “The counselor said, ‘Well, I wanted to let you know that earlier this morning, one of Colt’s teachers had sent me an email that said Colt had been making references to school shootings.”
Marcee Gray told this outlet that this phone call came after she received a text message from Colt Gray, which reportedly contained an apology.
“Between my gut feelings, the text messages, and now this email,” Marcee Gray determined to contact the school. She told the network, “Y’all need to go, like run, to the classroom.”
#BREAKING #MarceeGray, the mother of #Apalachee_High_School #Colt_Gray, gave her first interview to ABC and explained what spurred her to warn her son's school on the morning of the shooting about an unspecified "extreme emergency."
Marcee Gray stated: 'If I could take their… pic.twitter.com/15klX4kN3x
— 𝕏 🕵🏻♀️🦋L̤̮E̤̮G̤̮🅰️C̤̮Y̤̮🦋🕵🏻♀️ 𝕏 (@iamlegacy23) September 10, 2024
Though it is unclear what actions were spurred by Marcee Gray’s warning, it was previously reported a school administrator walked to Colt Gray’s second-period classroom moments before the attack, where the administrator reportedly confiscated the backpack belonging to a student with a similar name.
Colt Gray allegedly committed his attack shortly after the administrator determined the backpack belonged to a different student, and one parent told The Associated Press the school should have sent an armed School Resource Officer (SRO) rather than the unarmed administrator.
Text messages exchanged about Colt Gray by family members expressed concern about the teen’s mental health in the week prior to the attack, with one reportedly revealing Colt Gray experienced “homicidal and suicidal thoughts.” Newly surfaced text messages reportedly stated that the teen was either attending therapy or scheduled to begin therapy at the time of the attack.
Police claim Colt Gray received the weapon used to commit the attack was gifted to him last Christmas by his father, Colin Gray, who is currently facing two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Social media posts written by Marcee Gray and the maternal aunt of Colt Gray claim Colin Gray was abusive toward his family.
Marcee Gray and Colin Gray divorced sometime in 2023, and the teen’s maternal grandfather has described his former son-in-law as an “evil” man who drove Colt Gray to commit the attack.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
