Debates mount amid the revelation by an independent and controversial independent reporter of the Black woman who allegedly served as the counselor of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray.
Debates are mounting on social media amid the revelation of the Black woman who reportedly served as the counselor of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray.
On Sept. 7, controversial investigative reporter Jonathan Lee Riches identified Lisa Butler as Gray’s school counselor at Apalachee High. According to a tweet Riches allegedly sent out, some students at the school “blame” Butler for the school shooting that took the lives of two students and two teachers. No other source has confirmed his assertions at the time of this writing.
“Mrs. Lisa Butler was Colt Gray’s counselor at Apalachee High School,” Riches wrote. “Students have been sending us emails saying she is the worse counselor, doesn’t do her job & some even blame her.”
“The grandparents of Colt Gray called Butler a week before the shooting to warn her about his mental health,” he continued. “The mother of Colt Gray spoke with Butler Wednesday morning before the shooting, warning her of an extreme emergency regarding her son.”
Riches’ tweet comes in response to reports revealing the alleged text message Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, sent to a school counselor warning staff of an “extreme emergency” before the shooting took place. According to Marcee’s sister, Anne Brown, Marcee Gray urged the school to “immediately” find her son to check on him.
However, Riches is being called out by many on social media who accuse him of spreading misinformation online or attempting to pass the blame for the school shooting onto the Black high school counselor and not on Gray’s father, who allowed the 14-year-old access to guns.
“Learn the facts. People that work in schools aren’t God and able to just magically transport themselves to intervene in what was called in as a concern,” one person wrote in response to Riches.
“So blaming the Black school counselor instead of the father who bought him a gun? Nope,” added someone else.
Another user defended Butler and placed blame on Gray’s father, who “should’ve never bought him a gun knowing he had mental problems,” they wrote.
Brown provided screenshots of the text messages and a call log, which showed a call was made to the school at 9:50 a.m., 30 minutes before the shooting started at 10:20 a.m., according to Gray’s arrest warrant. Marcee received a text from her son on Wednesday saying he was sorry.
“I am so, so sorry and can not fathom the pain and suffering they are going through right now,” Marcee Gray told The Washington Post through text.
“It’s horrible. It’s absolutely horrible,” she told The New York Post.
According to the arrest warrant, texts show relatives started contacting the school about Gray’s mental health a week before the shooting. Brown told a relative that Gray was having “homicidal and suicidal thoughts.”
Gray’s grandfather, Charles Polhamus, told Brown that Gray “starts with the therapist tomorrow.”
The investigators have not disclosed what they believe may have motivated Gray or if they think he intentionally targeted specific victims. Gray’s father, Colin Gray, became the first parent of a school shooting suspect charged in Georgia, according to the District Attorney.
Gray is jailed in Barrow County after declining to seek bail in a brief court hearing on Sept.6. He is facing charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children for providing his son with the rifle.
After choosing not to request bail, Colt Gray is currently held in a juvenile detention center. Neither has been indicted nor has a plea been entered.
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