Just a year before he allegedly opened fire on students and teachers at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, Colt Gray was pictured with blood on his face, posing with the same type of AR-15 rifle he used to slaughter four and injure nine on Wednesday.
His father posted the photos and branded the excursion as the "greatest day ever," according to the Daily Mail . It was previously revealed that it had been his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, who bought Colt the gun as a present.
Colin Gray was charged in connection to the killings on Wednesday and admitted to the authorities that he had bought the weapon. Colt reportedly went on hunting trips with his father in the 18 months preceding the shooting.
The father bragged that his son was a "hell of a shot" in the post that showed his son killing a deer and holding the AR-15, which was timestamped Jan. 8, 2023.
Colin posted a video showing the kill in which he reportedly says, "I'll follow you, sir. Holy crap, look at that, brother. Go ahead and lay your rifle down on it, barrel up, so you don't get mud in the barrel, gun down, like we had for the picture. Remember, it's still loaded."
"Beautiful, lean down there and hold that head up. Let me see what you got this morning," he continued. "On your first-ever deer hunt, a big-old giant three-pointer. Amazing. Look at that, son, what a hell of a shot. Yes, sir."
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories.
During an interview with the FBI in May of that year, just months after the hunting excursion, Colin reportedly bragged to the authorities about his then-13-year-old son's shooting abilities after the boy was exposed for posting threats to shoot up the school that year.
Colin reportedly emphasized, however, that he was trying to teach his son about firearm safety and instill in him a love for the outdoors. He also reportedly admitted that the pair talked frequently about school shootings during the FBI interview, which he said concerned him.
But he wasn't concerned about his son being the shooter — he was more concerned about his son being hurt in one. He also said his son wasn't a loner but that he was being bullied at school by peers calling him gay, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said.
The initial school shooting threats allegedly made by Colt were posted on Discord, a social media app that functions much like Slack, the business app, but that's specifically marketed toward gamers.
Colt repeatedly denied at the time that he made the threats, stating that his account, which was named after Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter who killed 26. He also reportedly idolized Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland High School shooter.
Colt is accused of slaying 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo as well as teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie and injuring eight students and another faculty member, special education teacher David Phenix , whose daughter said he was shot in the foot and the hip, shattering his hip bone, as she added that he underwent surgery and was in stable condition as of Wednesday night.
Gunfire broke out in the school just after 9:45 a.m., according to eyewitnesses who allegedly saw Colt with a gun attempting to reenter their Algebra 1 classroom. He was apprehended minutes later by the school's resource officer, who gave Colt an ultimatum — surrender or die by officer-involved shooting. Colt surrendered and was taken into custody and interviewed.
An official motive has not yet been revealed for the shooting, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, who added that one may never come to light. The investigation into the incident continues as schools remain closed for the remainder of the week.
Local Georgia State
Most Popular
Comments / 0