Law&Crime Sidebar - Bodycam: Georgia School Shooter Colt Gray Questioned Months Before Attack

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

New body camera footage shows the moments investigators questioned Colt Gray about a threat made against a local school, more than a year before he allegedly opened fire inside a Georgia high school. Jackson County deputies spoke with the teen and his father, Colin Gray, about a threat made on Discord that connected back to Colt. Both Colt, now 14, and his father are sitting in jail, charged with murder. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber analyzes the footage and its implications.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 WilliamsonGuest 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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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. So we got a tip from the FBI saying that somebody from your old address over there in traditions that made a threat to shoot up school. For real? Yes, sir. I don't know anything about him saying shit like that and I'm gonna be mad as hell if he did and then all the guns will go away and they won't be accessible because god forbid something happening i didn't do my job that'd be i'd feel pretty bad about this newly released body cam video

shows a georgia investigator confronting both colt and Colin gray the teen accused of killing four people at a high school and his father the footage gives us an inside look at the investigation that spawned from an FBI tip more than a year before the teen allegedly opened fire. We are taking a closer look at that video right now as both of the people being questioned now sit behind bars. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. We have been bringing you the biggest updates from the school shooting in Winder, Georgia, and now we have got some bombshell footage for you. We have gotten our hands on body camera footage showing Jackson County investigators questioning Colt Gray, the accused shooter,

and his father, Colin, who's also been criminally charged, about a threat posted on the video game social media platform discord. This was back in May of 2023, which again is really problematic for the father who's accused of supplying his son with a gun, seemingly knowing that he had issues. But here's what happened last year. So the FBI, had gotten a tip that someone was posting photos of guns and saying that they were ready to shoot up a school? The FBI's Atlanta field office notified Jackson County, where the then-13-year-old Colt Gray was living with his father, Colin. Now, not long after this, the father and son would move to nearby Barrow County, and Colt would be enrolled in Appalachie High School as a freshman. As a transfer student, Colt started school on September 3rd, this is according to authorities, but told the school.

guidance counselor, he was experiencing a lot of anxiety and went home. The next day, September 4th, law enforcement says he somehow brought an AR-15-style rifle into the school of 2,000 students. Gray, charged with four counts of felony murder for allegedly killing two students, Mason Schemerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and two teachers, Ricky Aspenwall and Christina Irmy. He was arrested within minutes of the shooting after school resource officers confronted him and he surrendered. He's also, by the way, expected to face more charges in the coming days for the nine people who were also injured in the attack. His father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, was arrested the next day, facing charges of murder and manslaughter, as well as eight

counts of cruelty to children. Officials say he recklessly allowed his teen son access to weapons. The grand jury is going to review their cases and decide whether to return indictments. But But going back to what we're talking about here, let's go back in time just a little bit. July 2022, Colin and Colt, they were living with Colt's mom, Marcy Gray, and Colt's two younger siblings at a home in Jefferson, Georgia, which is in Jackson County. A writ of eviction was filed, and Colin and Marcy separated. Colin, Colt, they moved into a home in a different Jefferson subdivision, while Marcy apparently took the two younger children and moved back to her parents home in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

And because of that move, Colt switched to a new school system for seventh grade. So a tip comes in to the FBI about these discord threats, and the IP address was connected to the home that the family was evicted from. According to text messages between several members of the sheriff's office, an investigator stated, quote, suspect no longer lives at that location, found that they moved to new location, responded to this location with JPD, meaning Jefferson. police and made contact with Colin Gray. So by this time, Colt had just finished up his seventh grade year. He was going to be entering eighth grade in the fall. All that in mind, now let's get into the body cam footage. Sunday, May 21st, deputies come knocking. Colin Gray answered the door in his underwear. So we got a tip from the FBI saying that somebody from your old

address over there in traditions that made a threat to shoot up school. for real yes sir and your name was associated with that address we went over that address and you weren't living there so we live here let me get dressed sure hey by the way i've said this before but thank you so much for coming to us for our coverage of this shooting we really really appreciate it your trust in us it's not something we take lightly and honestly we're able to continue to do this because of the support that not only we get from you guys but also from our sponsors and if i can i just want to highlight one in particular right now Morgan and Morgan. Look, if you're injured, this firm with over a thousand attorneys,

maybe who you want in your corner because they are America's largest injury law firm. And for a reason, they win a lot. You also get a dedicated army that includes a legal team, case investigators, paralegals, customer case specialists. There's no upfront fee. You only pay them if you win. And the whole process can be done straight from your smartphone. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. Now, once Colin was back outside with the officers, he gave them some background on his family situation. So what, tell me what? Do you have any kids or anything living here?

Yeah, Colt Gray. Colt? Yeah, Colt. How old is he? He's 13. He's played a lot of video games and such? Yeah, he does. Like it all the time.

Is he here right now? Yeah. You think that's something he might a... I'm damn sure want to know. Can we talk to him? We talked to him? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Now, look, he's going to get all red face when you talk to him, just calm. All right, so him and his, let me give you a backstory. So we lived over traditions. I went to work one day. I'm sole provider, build high rises downtown. So I get a call from one of y'all. So my family was in law enforcement. So when I get the call, I think the officer's name.

Turns out, nicest guy, like, ever. He's like, I just want to let you know I'm at your house. I'm like, for what? He said, y'all have been evicted. I'm like, no, I just paid for him. And he's like, nope. He's like, I'm going to stay here until you get here, so I drove all the way home.

All my is in the trunk guy. And I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, I'll just let you know. this is what's going on. There's people standing there with trailers and I'm like, what are they doing? He's like, well, they're going to get your stuff after 24 hours. Is that right?

Like, I don't even know why y'all are here. So, long story short, I'm like, trying to figure out what's going on my wife. She's in the house. So we split. Long story short, for obvious reasons. She took my younger two and went back home with her mom. Colt and I ran into the house and he came here.

So we've been good, like, no problems. He struggled first with the separation of all schools kind of so, so. So I've been up and up with school countless times just tracking with him, you know, like, hey, make sure you're good, they understand what's going on. He goes to Jefferson School? He goes to Jefferson Middle School, yes, so he's been doing really good. And from there, the officers bring the conversation. back to the issue at hand.

Well, man, see this, do you have, do you have weapons in the house? I do. Are they accessible to him? They are. I mean, there's nothing loaded, but they are down. 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 was said, said so I mean we've been I swear to God we went up school I've been up school like I'm on first name I just was up there three days ago for his finals make talking to the principal like look no make sure Colts good he gets flustered under pressure he doesn't really think straight can we just you know just kind of put your arms around getting through seventh grade us we'll make sure he's good like I mean we're up there all the time talking the school if you talk to that school they'll know exactly who I am I'll say that

Okay. I mean, because I'm up there that much, you know? Checking in on them. Yeah. I just want to make sure he's good. So I'm a little taken back by the whole thing, but I can tell you this, I take that very serious, and so does he. So Colin Gray says that he's spoken with his son about school shootings and reveals that he's been bullied in school. I mean, all I can do is ask him.

Yeah, well, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I want you to talk to him and just, just, just, just, tell it like I don't know I don't know anything about him saying any shit like that and I'm gonna be mad as hell if he did and then all the guns will go away and they won't be accessible you know we I'm trying to be honest we I'm trying to teach him about firearms and safety and how to do it all and get him interested in the outdoors like on my phone and get him away from those video games exactly right that's the that's the

god honest truth and his the picture on my phone was him with blood on his cheeks from shooting his first deer it was just a great greatest day ever so he knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do and how to use them and not use them so it's kind of a little bit of a shock so in whatever y'all telling him please instill in him that what if this is whatever or where of us has come from is no joke like it's no joke but we wouldn't be here it was no i know i know and i'm telling you right now we talk about it quite a bit. All the school shootings, things that happened.

Yeah, scary. Are you getting picked on at school? He is. He's getting picked on at school, and is everything okay? That's why I keep going up there, you know, because you just never really know, and I don't want anything to happen to him. So, yeah, y'all want to.

You want to grab them? Yeah, you all talk. Or we can go in. That was all cool. Hang on. By the way, that bullying aspect, again, for prosecuting Colin Gray, could be very important. you knew your son was having trouble you knew he was bullied what did you do so gray gets colt from

inside and we then get our first look at this young suspect came in there was a good dude just they're talking about so did your dad kind of explain everything to you said something about school shooting up to school you about school shooting? Never, I just told them. I don't know what. Maybe they missed heard somebody else. I never said, I would say that.

I would just say, I swear. Do you, do you use Discord? Discord? Yes, sir. Oh, I used to. I don't have any more. When's the last time you used it? Not that four, I'm clear.

Really? Was it traditions or was it here? No, it was it traditions? Because in that discord account that I had, I had deleted it before. Before it. yeah because I think it got like him in pass report or something like I clicked on a link have you heard anybody on this cord when you were using it say something like that

remember like at that time yeah um I don't think so I don't think I ever had anybody at never and I mean I'm not trying to get anybody hand up but like this is some serious stuff oh he knows how serious it is trust me I'd hate to you know my boss was like you know I don't know how old this information is and if you want to wait till Monday to follow up I was like nah I'd rather doing that because so would we because God forbid something happened or not in my job that I'd feel pretty bad about this so I just want to make sure you understand that if something like that happened or you hear something like that yeah tell your dad tell teacher like I told him I would promise all I'd never say something

so you haven't used this cord in a few months and you're you're saying you didn't say No, all we got to have is TikTok, but I just go around there and watch a video else. Okay. All right, well, fair enough. What's your birthday? This is going to do a little report saying that, uh... We talked. We've done in reference to this and that we talked and we're saying that we didn't say anything like that.

I got to take it at your word and I hope you're being honest with me. I'm not saying your line, but it's... It's... It's... It's not unusual for people in the lives. He's familiar. You all are welcome any time. We take it like dead serious around here and I just want to make sure that I didn't

feel better if you do find out what or where. Like can somebody let us know? Sure. He'll, he's going to be full anxiety until this gets resolved. I can tell you that right now. So Colin then appears to walk to the investigator's car to get his business card. while the other deputy stays with Colt and he tries to engage the teenager and ask him about his previous school. Are you getting bullied over there at West Jackson Middle?

That's the thing I wasn't back there. Oh, yeah. Now look, be honest with him about now in middle school. I told him you were now and that's- Getting switched out halfway through the school year, being the new guy? Yeah, I'm being that quiet. I moved like six times already. Well, my dad was a logger.

and grew up in the military. We moved a lot when I was a kid. Well, in the past schools, surprisingly, I wasn't, I didn't necessarily have a reason that I would say that or anything. No. Yeah. Well, there's always somebody you can talk to if you need to.

Yeah, yeah, sure. All right. School resource counselors. Yeah, and I do talk to them. Yeah, I talk to that counselor quite often. How come? Just, you know, letter. Update.

yeah start looking out making goals for yourself yeah i'll do that you interested in anything a what a philosopher a philosopher a philosopher yeah it's kind of a out there yeah well i mean do what you enjoy Colin gray once again reminds the officers that colt had to deal with the trauma of an eviction but promises that he and his son will have a talk about the cops showing up he knows how serious it is and he'll uh like i said we'll have a long conversation here just a little bit

and something you know we there was a pretty traumatic thing that him and i both went through now he was at school while i was at work come home and i mean every ounce of what we had was under tarps and sitting in that yard you saw it you saw the clientele the neighbors that lived there it was like full embarrassing so very traumatic for both of us and living here just us is like dust is finally settled he's making good great so that's good we'll keep that up and that's important we'll start talking about traditions in West Jackson and just see if something jogs his memory like that but certainly we'd like to know if something if you do find well my thing is this so more than

likely they track the IP address okay and that's why we went to that address okay because they opheed dresses are usually location specific yeah you know within an area so if it came from that house then either somebody there's lying or the information is so old yeah and you know maybe it was something he heard or did on discord months ago i don't know i have no idea okay but he's telling me he didn't tell me he can't remember anything like that and you know i take at your work okay if you look me in the eye and you tell me that's what you're telling me i got no choice to take that you work right now but yeah but like i was telling your dad you find out otherwise man it's a different story okay

got any questions no sir you have any questions all right i'm going the rest of you thank thank you sir good luck to you now as the investigators leave they discuss what to do with the information they've just got made contact with these people they had no idea the husband said that he hasn't been on discord and since Fatticey football yeah and then Colin made contact with him and then brought his son got his date of birth brought him out and spoke to him apparently he was getting bullied very soft-spoken reserved kid pretty much unable to substantiate anything at this point. No.

Stand on until we get it more information from the so-called tip from the FBI. I got dad's phone number, so we'll just do an agency assist report for the FBI and write it up and we'll be done. Sounds like planning me. I appreciate you helping me out, man. No words. In the text message thread, the deputy writes, quote, he said he deleted his Discord account before they moved from Traditions to Jefferson several months ago. The tip was from the Traditions location. so it was obviously an old tip.

Now, to be clear, this case, this investigation, was eventually closed. They didn't have enough evidence to corroborate that there were legitimate threats. There was no probable cause of a crime. And one of the things I should mention, there is no red flag law in Georgia by which the court could be petitioned to remove guns from a house if someone is a danger to themselves or others. So in other words, there didn't appear to be much more that law enforcement could do. Now, going back to Colin for a minute, multiple family members have spoken to media outlets or on social media about Colin Gray and his parenting style, alleging he was abusive or verbally abusive. His former father-in-law even went so far as to call him evil.

But the main issue here, given this visit by police, that you could argue, and I'm sure prosecutors will argue, is that this should have put Colin on alert, on alert to ensure his son didn't have access to weapons. That is what led to these criminal charges. That is why we say this case is eerily similar to the Oxford School shooting. Jennifer and James Crumbley, a big theme in that case was foreseeability that they could have foreseen their son would have done this. And remember, they were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in those cases. Now, in this case, for Colin Gray, if he is convicted on all counts, he faces potentially 180 years in prison.

As for his son, because he's a minor, he's not going to face the death penalty, but he could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole if he's found guilty. Their next scheduled court appearances are in December, but of course, that is subject to change. All right, everybody, that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

I'll speak to you next time.