Shooting at Georgia high school: Former neighbors of the suspect tell harrowing stories of alleged abuse and chaos

STATHAM, Georgia – The former neighbors of the suspected high school shooter in Georgia gave insight into the family's chaotic home.

Fox News Digital spoke to neighbors of 14-year-old Colt Gray in Statham, Georgia, a small town of about 2,000 people where the suspected shooter's family lived until selling the house in September 2019.

The current owners of Gray's former home, who spoke to Fox News Digital anonymously, said the house on the nearly 20-acre property was in a messy state when they bought it in 2019.

Fox News Digital reached out to public defenders for Colt Gray and Colin Gray for comment on Saturday.

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The current neighbor said Marcee Gray warned his family and their realtor about Colin's unpredictable mood on the day of the move.

“The day we signed the contract, I was standing there with my wife and our realtor when Marcee came up to us and told us not to look Colin in the eye, they called him Coly,” the neighbor said. “Mauree said he was in a bad mood and she didn't know what he was going to do.”

“But when he came in, he was totally high,” he said. “Red, glassy eyes. He wasn't bothering anyone, but he wasn't really interacting either.”

The neighbor said the children, including Colt, were “left to fend for themselves” during the move-in.

“There wasn’t much oversight,” he said.

In the parents' home of the suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, there hung a picture of Colt Gray's greatness over the years. (Obtained from Fox News Digital)

The neighbor showed Fox News Digital where the Gray family measured Colt's development before his parents' tumultuous divorce.

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The growth chart showed Colt Gray's progress over the years, with the family taking notes during 2017-2019.

Colt Gray's former residence in Statham, Georgia. Saturday, September 7, 2024 (Ben Hendren for Fox News Digital) (Ben Hendren for Fox News Digital)

Other neighbors confirmed the stories about Colin Gray's volatile mood. An elderly neighbor told a heartbreaking story about her brief contact with Marcee Gray.

“It was daytime, but I was home alone and saw her [Marcee] “She ran up our driveway,” the elderly neighbor said. “She had a child in her arms and was running toward our barn, trying to get in. And all of a sudden I saw her husband pull up in a truck and run toward our barn building.”

“Marcee tried to get into the barn building, but it was locked, and when I saw him [Colin] I ran towards her, came outside and yelled, 'What's going on?' and he looked up, turned around and walked away like a lightning bolt.”

“When she left the building, I told her, 'I'm here if you need me,'” the neighbor said. “And she thanked me and I never saw her again.”

The next day, the elderly neighbor was greeted by an unexpected message on her doorstep.

“It said, 'Thank you. You saved my life,'” she said. “And it was signed, Marcee.”

Colt Gray, charged as an adult with four counts of murder, leaves the Barrow County Courthouse on Friday, September 6, 2024, after his initial appearance for the Wednesday shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool)

Another neighbor said that Colt was an unusually “bright and witty” child.

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“We took Colt and his little brother – there were only two of them at the time – on our horse,” said the neighbor. “He was 7 or maybe 8 at the time. And really smart and funny. Really cute kids.”

After the sale of the house in Statham, Georgia, the Gray family apparently fell into crisis, and the parents' subsequent divorce separated the three children. Colt moved in with his father, while the two younger siblings initially lived with their mother.

After their divorce, Colin and Colt Gray rented two homes in Jefferson, Georgia until they moved to Winder, Georgia. The rental home in Winder, Georgia was where Colin and Colin lived at the time of the heartbreaking shooting at Apalachee High School.

Four people were killed and nine injured in the shooting on Wednesday, Sept. 4. The two students killed in the shooting were identified as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old. Math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie were also killed, officials say.

Mass Shooting Timeline

The The shooting was first reported at 9:30 a.m.. on Wednesday. The Sheriff's Office received a report of an active shooter at 10:20 a.m.

GBI Director Chris Hosey said police were on the scene “within minutes.”

“Law enforcement responded very, very quickly to this incident,” Hosey said previously.

The 14-year-old is being tried as an adult and is charged with four counts of murder. He is said to have used a semi-automatic AR rifle for the shooting.

His father, Colin Gray, is confronted with corresponding allegations This is the latest attempt by prosecutors to hold parents responsible for their children's actions in school shootings.

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“You don't have to be physically injured to be a victim,” District Attorney Brad Smith told reporters Friday. “Everyone in this community is a victim. Every child in this school was a victim.”