Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 New Shocking Details in Georgia School Shooter Subpoena Docs

Episode Date: November 16, 2024

Colt Gray, a 14-year-old freshman at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, allegedly opened fire inside the building, killing two students and two teachers. As he awaits his official arraignment hearing, we’re learning new details about the case from several subpoenas filed with the clerk’s office. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the latest.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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New information about the investigation into Colt Gray. This is the teen who's accused of opening fire inside of his Georgia high school, killing two teachers and two students, and terrifying. the community. As students return to school and the alleged shooter remains locked up facing charges in adult court, we're learning about the steps investigators are taking to figure out

how we got here. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Back in September, law enforcement says 14-year-old Colt Gray brought a rifle to Appalachie High School in Winder, Georgia, in his backpack, and then proceeded to open fire on students and teachers in several classrooms during the second period. The suspected shooter is accused of killing four people, Mason Shemmerhorn and Christian and Gullo, both 14 years old, and two teachers, Ricky Aspenwall and Christina Irmy. Multiple other people were injured during the course of this shooting. In fact, according to an indictment, there were 25 victims in all.

Colt was arrested within minutes of the shooting after school resource officers confronted him, surrounded him. He was indicted last month on 55 total charges. So we're talking about four counts of felony murder, four counts of malice murder, four counts of aggravated battery, and 18 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, as well as 25 counts of aggravated assault. But he's not the only one charged in this case. No, his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, was also arrested and charged. He was arrested the day after Colt was. And he himself is facing 29 charges, two counts of murder in the second degree, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and five counts of reckless conduct and 20 counts of cruelty to children in the second degree. Essentially, prosecutors are

saying it was his fault. It was his responsibility to secure that weapon. He recklessly allowed his teen son, who may have had some warning signs that he may have done this or was troubled, access to the weapon. That's the key here. Now, both entered not guilty pleas. They remain in custody. They're expected in court later this month for an arraignment. But now we want to talk about some new information because we just got our hands on new subpoenas that were filed with the Barrow County Superior Court, and they give us a glimpse into what is happening now with the investigation.

So one subpoena is for Amazon, and the other three are for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and specifically, it seems that investigators are looking for information about gun ranges. As far as the Amazon subpoena, it seems that what they're looking for is information connected to two, addresses. So one in Jefferson and one in Bethlehem. The first is the home where Colt and his father were questioned last year about threats that were made online about a school shooting. We'll get to that more in a moment. It's a really important factor in this case. But the other one, as I

mentioned, is for Bethlehem. And that is for another home where the Grays had recently lived. They moved several times over the last few years. This is according to public records. But this subpoena says that it is looking for, quote, any and all records of customer information payment information, account information, including info about IP addresses, and purchase history from the time the account was created. The subpoena also says, please do not deactivate, freeze, or close this account. And that purchase history seems like it could maybe help show that Colt was preparing for this shooting well in advance, that this was, again, premeditated, planned in advance.

In fact, during a preliminary hearing for the dad, Colin, back in October, investigators had testified about these Amazon purchases that were related to the Sig Sauer automatic rifle that Colin had bought Colt for Christmas. On December 19, 2023, Colin ordered a laser site for Colt's automatic rifle from Amazon. And then moving to June 10th of 2000. What happened that day? Colin ordered Colt a tactical vest from Amazon. Are you familiar with the kind of plan that Colt had written out about this whole shooting?

I am. Was his plan to wear that vest? Yes, we do know from detailed notebooks that he had written in about his plan for the shooting that he had intended on wearing that vest. Moving to August 11, 2012, what happened that day? On August 11, 2024, Colt texted Colin, his father, to stop by Academy Sports and outdoor store and to pick him up 150 rounds of 556 or 223 ammunition. And is that the type of ammunition that is used in that six-hour rifle that he had purchased?

It is. And then August 15th of 2024, what happened that day? Colt asked his dad to buy him a Faiachi Borsight in a text message. I'm sorry, I had been about to do that firearm. Colt asked his dad to buy that for him in a text message. By the way, we've been trying to cover all of the new developments in this shooting story, and I got to call out our incredible partner and sponsor Morgan and Morgan, because it's with their support that we can keep on doing this.

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Now let's talk about the other three subpoenas. So they went to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and they were in reference to shooting ranges that they run. This is spread out across all of North Georgia. And by the way, anybody with a hunting or fishing license, they would have access to wild. wildlife management areas and their ranges. So investigators confirmed during that preliminary hearing that the Grays had visited gun ranges. They had gone to the range multiple times. We verified that. They also had spent time the week before actually citing in the new attachments for the rifle in the backyard of the residence. And I would imagine that would go to, listen, you brought your son

to these gun ranges. You know he's going to these gun ranges. You know what he's capable of. And on top of other warning signs or red flags, that's a problem. This is not like he never touched the gun. He never had access to the gun. That's what could be problematic for Colin Gray. But back to the subpoenas, all three are looking for what appears to be the same details. Because first, the big Laser Creek shooting range, which is in Talbot County, Georgia, that's a little less than three hours away from Wynder where Cole Gray allegedly opened fire inside the high school.

The subpoena there seeks, quote, any and all records of Colin. Gray or Colt Gray accessing the Big Laser Creek shooting range from January 1st, 2024 to September 4th, 2024. Such records may include copies of sign-in sheets, copies of license information, payment information, surveillance footage, or other records related to their presence at the facility. And according to the Department of Natural Resources website, Big Laser Creek offers a 100-yard range. So kind of eerie to be thinking about in relation to this

shooting and what happened at that school. So now let's talk about the Clibel shooting range. That's closer to Winder. It's only about an hour south in an area called Mansfield. It boasts lots of options, including a 100-yard rifle range with digital targets, a 35-yard pistol range, skeet shooting, and an archery range. An hour north of Winder is the third range. This is Wilson-Scholes shooting range in Alto, Georgia. The DNR website says it recently underwent a lengthy renovation to add improvements. And investigators clearly want anything and everything that those three shooting ranges have when it comes to both Colt and Colin Gray. Now, back to what I mentioned before. So last year, the FBI had actually gotten a tip that someone was posting photos of guns

on the video game streaming site Discord and saying that they were ready to shoot up a school. In fact, the FBI's Atlanta field office notified Jackson County, the local law enforcement, where then 13-year-old Colt was living with Colin, to find out, what was going on. So investigators go to this house in May of 2023. They speak with both Colin and Colt, who both assured the officers that things were just fine and that Colt didn't know who had posted that on Discord. Take a look. Let me ask you have weapons in the house? I do.

Are they accessible to him? They are. I mean, there's nothing loaded, but they are now. We actually, we do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year. You know? So, like, I'm pretty much in shock, to be honest with you. Well, I'm a little pissed off to be even really honest with you. If that is what it was said.

And here's the thing. Because of inconsistencies and the age of this tip, the officers decided that they would just take hold at his word and they closed the investigation. And to be clear about something, going back to the actual shooting, there is not a clear-cut motive for why he allegedly did that. this exact motive for this shooting has never been revealed.

But investigators did indicate during Colin Gray's preliminary hearing that there were several suspicious things that were found in this young boy's bedroom and gaming room. This is a crumpled up piece of notebook paper. It says, uh, this life of mine. It appears that he's kind of talking to himself. He says, hmm, yeah, that was good. So yeah, I hate this life anyways.

I'm just about to my breaking point. I am, and then he does a list, depressed, eager to die, horny, delirious, and then he spells something that doesn't spell a word. He also says, well, yeah, that's about it, nothing else here. We also found a letter that he had written that he left in the gaming room where he kept his computer. It says, just no, it's not your fault.

You tried your hardest. Not only for me, but for Jenny and Coley. Forgive me. As for what I've done, it's out of my control. Know that I love you all. See ya. We also located during the execution of the search warrant, a notebook in Colt's bedroom.

It had pretty detailed drawings of a stick figure that he had labeled you, so him. It then says, shoot the teacher first. There's another stick figure with a bullet going through their body. It says gut shot. There's then pictures of two stick figures, students. It then says the students next, with an exclamation point next to their desks. It then shows what I believe he's indicating is a deceased stick figure lying on the ground,

him again wearing his hat with the gun shooting towards those two students he had drawn at their desks one of them appears to have a head wound and the other one is yelling in horror and then it shows his stick figure again with the word

suicide and a smiley face written he shows the stick figure shooting himself we also found another notebook in that same room It was a drawing of a rifle with what appears to be ammunition coming out of it, and then the word kids written past the ammunition.

In addition to those writings that y'all found, did you all find anything in the house that suggested Colt Gray had an interest in school shooters? We did. In that same gaming room, we found GBI when they executed the warrant located what would be described as a shrine of sorts. There were multiple clippings from newspapers, pictures that have been printed off the Internet of other shooters that have been involved in similar incidences. And I'm going to show you, I'll have a picture of this shrine. Can you describe how many pictures are in that shrine, where they were in the gaming room, and who they are of? There's approximately 15 pictures.

They were mounted with thumbtacks to the wall directly behind his computer desk. The pictures show newspaper article clippings labeled with the toll of students that had died during the Parkland shooting. Articles from Los Angeles Times and the New York Times showing the firearms that were located during that shooting incident as well as students mourning the loss of their friends. There's also pictures of Nicholas Cruz from his court appearances, as well as other pictures of Nicholas Cruz leading up to the incident, him holding a firearm, an attack vest, and other school photos that were in his yearbook. So here's a question for you. How is this 14-year-old suspected shooter even able to get the gun into the school in the first place? Well, Special Agent Lucas Byer of the GBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified at this prelim. hearing and laid out what had happened on that September day when Colt had taken the bus to

Appalachie High. The firearm was located in his book bag. It was, it was a rifle, so it was long, so it did not fit in his book bag entirely. We determined that the rifle was protruding out of his book bag and that the part of the rifle that was protruding from the book bag was concealed with a rolled-up poster board and just by a quick glance it appeared that Colgray was possibly transporting a school project. Special Agent Byer says that according to surveillance video from inside the classrooms and in the hallways, Colt had attended first period, then he left briefly asking to go to the bathroom, then during second period he asked to go to see the school counselor who he had seen previously. And from there, the GBI agent explained

Colts alleged next steps. At the time that Colt Gray exited the J. Hall restroom, he was wearing yellow gloves that he had not previously been wearing. The white poster board that had been inside the backpack was no longer there. He was carrying the backpack in his left hand. The white poster board was, he appeared to have it wrapped around his lower torso as if to conceal something. Where did he go with that point? Mr. Gray proceeded to return back to his second period classroom, which was Classroom 2.151. What happened when you were out there?

The door to the classroom was secured based on video footage. It appeared that Mr. Gray stood outside of the classroom door for approximately a minute. At some point, I should note that none of the video that I reviewed had any audio associated with it, But based off the reaction of students in the classroom, it looked like Mr. Gray may have knocked on the door. A student stood up and appeared to be preparing to open the door. She observed Colt through the door's window. In her reaction, she backed away from the door. She put her hand over her mouth, and she appeared to get the attention of Ms. Greer,

who also went to the window, observed Mr. Gray, and immediately told students to get into the corner of the classroom. Ms. Greer then took control of a badge that she was wearing and pushed a button that initiated a lockdown procedure. What did Mr. Colt Gray do with that one? Colt Gray moved to his left and entered or went to the door of classroom 2.152 which was identified as Miss Cassie Ryan's classroom. He entered that classroom and proceeded to fire the rifle into that classroom.

Did he fire one time or multiple times? Were you able to tell about how many times or from the video? No, sir. Once Colt Gray started discharging the rifle, there was a lot of dust and debris that obscured some of the camera footage. so I was not able to determine based off that video how many times he discharged the rifle but it was it was clear and obvious that he did discharge the rifle multiple times were people in that classroom struck yes sir I believe it was six or seven individuals were injured in that classroom And was anyone killed in that classroom?

Yes, sir. Student Christian Angulo was killed in that classroom. At approximately 10.22 a.m. and 29 seconds, the video depicted Colt, shouldering the rifle, aiming it, and discharging several rounds. And those rounds impacted teacher Christina Ermi. Was she struck? Yes, sir, she was. And does she die from her injuries?

Yes, sir, she did. He observed Coach Aspenwall and Coach Phoenix, and a video depicted him discharging multiple rounds towards the coaches. Were they struck? Yes, sir. They were both struck. And then Coach Aspenwall, was he killed by his injuries? Yes, sir, he was. And was Coach Phoenix killed? Coach Phoenix was not killed. He was severely wounded.

What happened with Colt at that point? Colt continued traveling down. he turned his attention back down J-Hull video footage appeared to show him searching for more targets or trying to access other classrooms he didn't pull on any door handles

I think he was I believe he was just looking for open classroom doors once he reached the end of J-Hall he stopped and turned around and it was that point that another student exited the restrooms that was a student Mason

Shermerhorn Colt Gray was positioned behind Mason at a distance Mason did not see Colt initially and the video footage depicted Colt again shouldering the rifle aiming and discharging multiple rounds at Mason Shermerhorn When did Colt hit with that point? Shortly after Mason Sherman Warren was he struck by the

Yes sir he was And was he killed by the actual Colt yes sir he was when did they colt you at that point um within a matter of two or three seconds um two barrow county sheriff's office school resource officers entered j hall they had their weapons drawn and aimed at colt and it appeared that they were issuing verbal commands uh colt dropped the or colt placed the rifle on the ground he he raised his hands ultimately laid down on the ground and um surrendered himself to to the school resource officers

who were able to take him into custody. And was the firearm taken in custody at that point? Not at that point. It remained where he dropped it. And the firearm was ultimately recovered by GBI crime scene agents during the processing of the scene. And what kind of firearm was that? It was a black and color, SIG-Sour, SIG-M-400 rifle.

There was one magazine loaded in the rifle, which was found to contain 18 rounds, and there was also one round in the chamber of the rifle at the time of recovery. What was the capacity of that magazine? The capacity of that particular magazine was 60 rounds. Were there other magazines found in whole possession? Yes, sir, there were an additional three magazines

located in his possession, one of which was a 30-round capacity magazine, and there were additional 60-round capacity magazines in his possession. It's just horrifying. It's just horrible. There's really no other way to explain it talking about these school shootings. And when you think about it, going back now away from the suspected shooter, away from the defendants,

going back to the four people who were killed in this tragedy, separate funeral services were held in September for all of them. So mourners at 14-year-old Mason-shimmerhorn service wore red, his favorite color. Both his parents spoke during the service with his father reading a letter that he'd written to his son. and in it he apologized for not being there to protect him. On the same day that Mason Shimmerhorn was laid to rest, teacher Christina Irmy was memorialized too. She had immigrated to the United States more than 20 years ago from Romania. Her friends and family said it was her dream to be a teacher.

And since she didn't have any kids of her own, her students were like her children. She'd even brought treats to the classroom that day to celebrate her recent birthday with the students. This was again, all before she was. killed. The other teacher killed in the rampage. Richard Aspenwall was remembered during a private funeral as well as a public celebration of life. This math teacher and football coach was married with two young daughters. And 14-year-old Christian Angulo was the last victim to be

buried. A bilingual funeral mass was held for him. His parents had immigrated from Mexico and a large part of the Hispanic community came to pay their respects to him. His mom previously said in an interview that he had hugged both her and his father tightly the night before the shooting and she wants to hold on to that memory. Now as these cases move closer toward a trial, we do have one more update for you that we want to talk about, and that is that the judge originally assigned to this case has recused himself, and it's not because of a issue or conflict of interest in any way, no, but it's because Judge Curry Mingoldorf II cited his upcoming retirement as his reason for wanting off the case, saying he wanted to be a smooth transition.

So it's better for someone else to step in now than try to get caught up later on. And that person, or at least for now, the case has been reassigned to Judge Sarah Griffey. We will, of course, keep you updated on any developments in this case. That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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