Mother of Ga. Shooting Suspect Warned Apalachee High School Officials Minutes Before Deadly Attack, Says Aunt

Mar. 15, 2025

A photo of tributes left at Apalachee High School following the Sept. 4, 2024 shooting.Photo:The Washington Post via Getty

The Washington Post via Getty

The mother of 14-year-oldGeorgia shootingsuspectColt Grayissued a warning to the school around 30 minutes before the deadly attack, according to multiple outlets.

On Wednesday, Sept. 4 at approximately 10:23 a.m. local time,Apalachee High School studentsMason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, as well as teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39 and Christina Irimie, 53, were killed after shots were fired at the Winder Ga. establishment. Multiple others were hospitalized with injuries.

Annie Brown — who is the sister of the shooting suspect’s mother, Marcee Gray — shared text messages with theWashington Postwhich confirmed that Marcee had called the school the morning of the attack and told a counselor about an “extreme emergency” involving her teenage son.

U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock speaks alongside tributes following the Apalachee High School shooting.Megan Varner/Getty

Megan Varner/Getty

“I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him,” she added in the message.

Marcee confirmed details of the texts and phone logs to the outlet, the paper stated, but didn’t go into further detail about why she warned the school that morning.

Colt Gray (left) and Colin Gray.HANDOUT/Barrow County Sheriff’s Office/AFP via Getty (2)

HANDOUT/Barrow County Sheriff’s Office/AFP via Getty (2)

PerCNN, Marcee’s father, Charles Polhamus, said he was with his daughter when she received a message from the suspected shooter — his grandson — which read, “I’m sorry, mom,” prompting her to call the school. After receiving the text, the outlet added that Marcee and her mother then began the 200-mile drive from Fitzgerald to Winder.

ThePoststated a counselor had told Marcee that her son had been “talking about a school shooting,” Annie stated. However, there was reportedly some confusion involving a student with a similar name when a school administrator went to look for Colt.

The messages also confirmed that the suspect’s family had been in touch with the school about the teenager’s mental health a week before the attack, per the paper. Annie was said to have told a relative he’d been having “homicidal and suicidal thoughts.”

Students and faculty gather on the field at Apalachee High School on Sept. 8, 2024 to mourn and celebrate the lives of the school shooting victims.Megan Varner/Getty

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Colin’s charges stem from “Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” authorities said at a Sept. 5 press conference.

A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

source: people.com