Georgia school shooter’s father boasted about son’s ‘first kill’ in audio clip after giving him rifle at 13
Colt Gray's father admitted access to high-caliber firearms for his son, linked to a school shooting investigation.
In a recently obtained audio clip, Colt Gray's father indicated that access to high-calibre firearms was "available" to the individual suspected of being involved in the Georgia school shooting a year prior to the alleged incident at Apalachee High School. In the recording, obtained by the FBI, his father even boasted about the "greatest day" of his life when his son killed his first deer. Colin Gray was questioned by police who were investigating the boy's alleged threats to carry out a school shooting in 2023.
Troubling picture of Colts Gray's past
Last year, authorities visited Colin Gray’s home in Jefferson concerning his 14-year-old son, where according to the FBI, “The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online.”
In May 2023, the FBI's Atlanta Division questioned the boy about potential plans to carry out a school shooting. During the investigation, Colin revealed that he had been teaching his son about guns and hunting to encourage outdoor activities and reduce video game time, according to The New York Times. Colin described a photo of his son "shooting his first deer," calling it “the greatest day ever.”
The report stated that the FBI received a tip about troubling online messages from Colt Gray’s Discord page. The investigation revealed that Gray had created an account using a Russian username that spells out "Lanza," a reference to Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Colt Gray was given a rifle at the age of 13
Records reveal that Colin Gray owned multiple firearms, including an AR-15-style rifle. Now aged 54, Gray is on the hook for killing and manslaughter after his kid Colt allegedly took a gun his dad gave him as a Christmas present and shot up his high school in Georgia, killing four. During a May 2023 police interview, Colin Gray admitted that Colt had access to the weapons in their Jefferson home but he kept insisting that they weren’t loaded.
"They are ... I mean there's nothing loaded, but they are ... we do a lot of shooting, we do a lot of deer hunting,” according to the audio file obtained by Fox.
The officer emphasized the need for immediate action to prevent potential harm, while Colin Gray agreed and even expressed his frustration about the situation. "I'm going to be mad as hell if he did," he said replying to the officer to his son's alleged threat and promising that he would take all “gun access.”
Colt reportedly switched schools due to bullying and is now accused of shooting up Apalachee HS, about 15 minutes away from his previous one. Colt and his father were taken into custody on Thursday and appeared in court together on Friday morning.