Wolf Blitzer Can’t Believe How Georgia Shooting Suspect Obtained Gun: ‘What a Decision That Was’

The 14-year-old boy police say shot and killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia received the gun as a Christmas present from his father. The gift was given just months after police spoke with the future suspect and his family over school shooting threats the teenager allegedly made.

Two law enforcement sources told CNN on Thursday that the alleged shooter Colt Gray got the AR-15-style gun he used in the killings from his father Colin Gray in December 2023:

One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present.

The timeline the teen’s father, Colin Gray, provided to authorities would put the gun purchase months after authorities first contacted Gray and his family to investigate school shooting threats made online.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia closed that investigation because the tip about the threat could not be substantiated.

CNN reported that it was unable to reach Colin Gray for comment. Shortly after the report aired, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced it had arrested him on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of Second Degree Murder, and eight counts of Cruelty to Children.

Ryan Young – one of the CNN reporters with a byline on the story joined Thursday’s edition of The Situation Room and told Wolf Blitzer the alleged shooter received the gift as a Christmas gift that led to a “heartbreaking” tragedy.

“Holiday gift for his son,” Blitzer echoed. “What a decision that was.”

In his report, Young detailed the nature of law enforcement’s previous investigation into Colt Gray, who authorities say will be tried as an adult:

In May 2023, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from the FBI about a threat on the chat platform Discord to “shoot up a middle school tomorrow,” according to an investigation report obtained through a public records request

The FBI tip referenced a Discord account created the previous month with an email address that the bureau had associated with Gray. The tip included photo attachments with a profile name in Russian that translated to Adam Lanza – the gunman who killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Investigators wrote that they interviewed Colt and his father, Colin Gray, at their then-home in Jefferson – about 13 miles northeast of Winder, the site of Wednesday’s school shooting.

Colt, who was 13 during the interview, said “someone is accusing him of threatening to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner,” Jackson County sheriff’s investigator Daniel Miller Jr. wrote.

Watch above via CNN.