This was preventable....
Authorities have released body cam footage from the 2023 interview with alleged Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray and his father, Colin, Newsweek reported.
Footage shows the suspect being questioned by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia on May 21, 2023, after the FBI received a tip that someone was making online threats to shoot up a school. An officer first speaks to Gray’s father on the front porch, asking him about how many children he has and if there are weapons in the house.
Colin admits to having weapons and says, “There is nothing loaded.” “We do a lot of shooting, a lot of deer hunting,” the father said. He then praises his son for shooting his first deer and then says that he is “in shock” about the officers questioning. “I’m a little pissed off, to be really honest with you. I don’t know anything about him saying anything like that and I’m going to be mad as hell if he did,” Colin said to the officer.
“And then all the guns will go away, and they won’t be accessible to him. I’m trying to teach him about firearms and safety. This is no joke.”
The then-13-year-old makes an appearance on the body cam footage, and officers interrogate him on why they are there, asking him, “Did you say something about a school shooting?” The minor responds, denying the accusations against him. “I may have misheard someone else saying it,” he said. “I swear.”
The police officer gives more background, explaining that his boss wanted to wait until Monday, but “God forbid something happened and I didn’t do my job,” he would feel horrible. “My boss asked if I wanted to leave this until Monday, and I said ‘no, I’d rather do it now because God forbid something happened and I didn’t do my job, I’d feel pretty bad about that, so I just want to make sure that you understand that is something like happened or you hear something like that, report it, tell your dad, tell a teacher,” the officer can be heard saying.
“I got to take you at your word, and I hope you’re being honest with me. I’m not saying you’re lying, but it’s not unusual for people to lie to the police.”
Before leaving the property following the father and son inquiring about “what and where,” the officer lets them know that there is a chance that their IP address is being tracked, which led them to the Gray house. “More than likely, they tracked the IP address, and that’s why we went to that address. IP addresses are usually location-specific, you know, within an area, so if it came from that house, then somebody there is lying, or the information is just so old—you know, maybe it was something he heard or did on Discord months ago, I don’t know,” the officer said.
“But he’s telling me he didn’t, he’s telling me he can’t remember anything like that.”
The now-14-year-old is facing several charges after being identified as the person who opened fire at his high school on September 4, 2024, taking the lives of two students and two teachers: Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, Richard Aspinwall, and Christina Irimie. Investigators said Gray allegedly told investigators, “I did it,” as soon as he was arrested.
According to Fox News, Colt’s father is also facing charges in connection to the school shooting, as Georgia is one of 42 states that hold parents responsible criminally on their children’s behalf. The 54-year-old faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.
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