A 14-year-old boy is accused of killing four people at his Georgia high school. Here's what we know

A 14-year-old boy is accused of quadruple murder. He is said to have killed two students and two teachers with a semi-automatic assault rifle at his high school in Georgia this week.

Colt Gray had his first hearing on Friday after being charged as an adult in the recent mass shooting at a school in the United States

Immediately after the hearing, his father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, appeared in the same courtroom. He was charged with several misdemeanors for allowing his son to possess a gun.

After Wednesday morning's shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta, father and son are behind bars, families are planning funerals and people are wondering what happened and why.

Here's what we currently know and what we don't.

How it happened

WHAT WE KNOW: Colt Gray was in algebra class when he left the classroom, according to classmates. One thought he was skipping class again. But Gray returned and knocked for someone to open the locked door. Students heading to the door saw something through the window and backed away. Classmate Lyela Sayarath said she saw Gray turn around and then heard gunshots — “10 or 15 at once, one after the other.” A school security officer found the shooter, who surrendered at 10:26 a.m. Authorities say the suspect killed four people. Nine others were injured, seven of them shot. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the suspect acted alone.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: Authorities have not identified a motive for the shootings. Officials also have not said where in the school the victims were shot. Witnesses say some were shot in a hallway and at least one was shot in a classroom. It's also not known how the suspect got to school that day, whether he took a bus or got a ride; how the gun got into the school; and where it was before the shooting. Authorities say the school does not have metal detectors.

Who the victims were

WHAT WE KNOW: Authorities have identified the four people killed as students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. The eight students and one teacher who were hospitalized are expected to make a full recovery. Angulo's sister, Lisette, described him in a GoFundMe fundraiser for his funeral as “a very good boy and very sweet and so caring.” A neighbor of Schermerhorn said he was a curious boy who he watched grow up from the age of 4. Irimie was a recent immigrant from Romania who also helped teach a children's dance group. Aspinwall was also the high school football team's defensive coordinator, an old-school football coach who loved his wife, his daughters, his students and football, according to the head coach.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: We don't know the motive for the shootings, nor do we know whether the shooter was targeting the victims or whether it was pure coincidence.

The suspected shooter

WHAT'S KNOWN: Colt Gray is charged with quadruple murder, but officials said Friday that more charges will follow This is not the teen's first interaction with authorities, who questioned him last year about a social media post that discussed a possible threat to raid a middle school. Gray, then 13, said “he would never say something like that, even in jest,” according to a report from investigators. No action was taken because of conflicting information about the social media account. Colin Gray told the investigator at the time that Colt had access to unloaded guns in the house but knew “how to use them and how not to use them.” He also said his son had been having problems since he and his wife separated and Colt was being teased at school. The two shot guns together, and the elder Gray showed the investigator a cellphone photo of the boy from a recent outing with blood on his cheeks after shooting his first deer. It was “the greatest day ever,” the father said.

WHAT IS NOT KNOWN: Not much is known about the Grays between the investigator's visit in May 2023 and the shooting. At the time of the interview, they had been living in a neighboring county but eventually moved to Winder. Investigative reports showed that after Colin Gray separated from his wife, two younger children moved in with her, but Colt lived with his father. He had only recently transferred to Apalachee High School and missed many classes, classmates said.

Why the father was charged

WHAT WE KNOW: Colin Gray, a construction worker, is the first parent of a school shooting suspect to be charged in Georgia, District Attorney Brad Smith said Friday. But two parents have already been convicted in a similar case in Michigan. Gray was charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse for knowingly allowing his son to possess a gun that authorities say was used in the shooting.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: Although authorities say Colin Gray gave his son the assault rifle, it's not clear how or when the boy came into possession of the gun. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is declining to release any further information because the investigation is ongoing. “The shooter is alive and faces charges. We are working to prepare a compelling case to be tried in court,” the agency's website states.

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