Tom Pappert, reporter at The Georgia Star News, detailed the unfortunate series of events that reportedly transpired just minutes before 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly killed four and injured nine more at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia last week, which, if acted upon, may have prevented the shooting.
Gray, who surrendered to law enforcement Wednesday after allegedly carrying out the shooting, was on the FBI’s radar last year, as the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office interviewed him and his father in May 2023 after the FBI received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting.”
Just months after being interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the teenager was reportedly gifted an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas by his father, Colin Gray, who has since been charged in connection to last week’s shooting.
In addition, after the shooting when law enforcement searched Gray’s home, police said that it was “apparent” from the appearance of the alleged killer’s bedroom that he was obsessed with school shooting incidents, especially the 2018 Parkland high school shooting in Florida.
On the day of the shooting, Gray allegedly sent a text message to his mother, Marcee Gray, which reportedly prompted her to contact Apalachee High School to warn of an “extreme emergency” that was about to unfold including her son.
However, a counselor who went to retrieve Gray after the mother’s phone call reportedly ended up pulling a different student with a similar name out of class.
Pappert, who has reported extensively on the shooting, said “a lot remains unchecked” in regards to the moments leading up to the shooting that may have prevented the heinous act.
“We have to absolutely consider what could have been done to prevent this and what could have been done to minimize it,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“It seems as though there might have been some warning signs that were ignored, not just by law enforcement, but maybe by school officials,” Pappert added, noting how another report has said that Gray’s grandmother called the school the day before the shooting to also warn and express concern to the school about her grandson.
In addition to the moments leading up to the shooting, troubling details have also been revealed about Gray’s home life, including the reported vocal abuse of his father and his mother’s nearly decades-long criminal records.
Pappert reported Monday that the maternal grandfather of Gray said that the teen was “driven” to commit the attack due to a troubled childhood and “evil” father.
The grandfather said that his grandson was subjected to constant “screaming and hollering” from his father, and suggested spending over a decade in that environment “can affect anybody.”
Gray’s mother reportedly divorced his father for the alleged abuse and relocated with Gray’s two younger siblings while the killer continued to live with his father until the attack.
Pappert said the troubling home life of Gray suggests that the alleged killer appears to have been part of a troubling trend when it comes to broken families in the U.S.
“It is honestly devastating when you think of how this could be playing out all across the United States as the family units in America break down and as mental health breaks down. This could be a domino effect, I think, where you see people have no attachment to their community but also no attachment to their own family and they don’t think they have much to live for,” Pappert explained.
“I think this is a serious emerging mental health crisis in this country, and unfortunately, we’ve already seen from our friends on the left how they want to reduce this into an argument about guns,” Pappert added.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
