Alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray was ‘ridiculed’ by classmates, frequently called ‘gay’: father
Alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray was frequently called “gay” by bullies, including some who physically harassed him, his father told investigators in a 2023 phone call.
“I was trying to get him on the golf team. Like, ‘Oh, look, Colt’s gay.’ ‘He’s dating that guy.’ Just ridiculed him day after day after day,” Colin Gray, 54, told authorities in a newly revealed transcript.
“I don’t want him to fight anybody, but they just keep like pinching him and touching him, and that’s a whole different deal,” the dad said at one point. “And it’s just escalated to point where like his finals were last week and that was a lasting on his mind.”
Colt, then 13, had landed on the FBI’s radar after allegedly threatening to shoot up a middle school on Discord, an online messaging platform popular among gamers.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office paid a visit to the boy’s home and spoke to his father, who said his son was bullied — and admitted that the boy had access to firearms in the house.
During the phone conversation several weeks later, Gray told the investigator that he introduced bow-hunting, a pellet gun and then a .22 rifle and gun safety to his son for deer-hunting.
“He’s going through a lot. He just wants us to have a simple life. It was very difficult for him to go to school and not get picked on,” said Colin, who now faces manslaughter and murder charges alongside his son.
Just before 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 5, Colt allegedly opened fire at Apalachee High School with an AR-15-style rifle given to him by his father as a Christmas present.
Colt is accused of killing two students and two teachers.
What we know about alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray's family
- Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray had a difficult home life filled with abuse and neglect.
- Gray’s mother, Marcee, has had multiple drug and domestic violence arrests.
- Gray’s father, Colin, allegedly bought his troubled son an AR-15 rifle for Christmas. He is facing charges for supplying the weapon.
- Lauren Vickers, a neighbor of the family, says the children were often locked out of the home.
- Charles Polhamus, Colt’s maternal grandfather, says Colin Gray was verbally abusive toward his grandson and daughter.
- Colt’s aunt, Annie Brown, says Colt had been struggling with his mental health.
Nine others were injured and treated at local hospitals with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The teen gunman surrendered “immediately” upon being confronted by a school resource officer and was taken into custody, where he fessed up to the massacre, telling cops, “I did it.” authorities said.
The father and son appeared back-to-back at the Barrow County Courthouse on Friday morning, where Colt was told he could be facing life in prison if convicted in the killings.
His father faces up to 180 years behind bars if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths.
