Parent's warning to Georgia school raises questions | News, Sports, Jobs

Colin Gray, 54, the father of the 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooter, sits for his initial appearance at the Barrow County Courthouse in Winder, Ga., Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

ATLANTA (AP) — The mother of a student who is in the same class as the boy accused of killing four people in a shooting at a Georgia high school says information that school administrators were warned the boy was in crisis shows the shooting could have been prevented.

“The school failed them. They could have prevented these deaths, but they didn't.” Rabecca Sayarath said this in a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Sunday. “I really, really feel that way.”

Sayarath's daughter Lyela told reporters on Wednesday, the day of the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that school officials had apparently been looking for Colt Gray, the 14-year-old charged with quadruple murder, before the shooting began.

Others refuse to blame the school or law enforcement.

“I will not act as an arbitrator or judge retrospectively what happened last night with the authorities,” US Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, said on CNN “On the State of the Nation” on Sunday. “I applaud our first responders. While others run from danger, they run toward danger to do their best.”

According to officials, Gray shot and killed students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn (both 14) and teachers Richard Aspinwall (39) and Cristina Irimie (53). Eight other students and one teacher were injured – seven of them were shot – and are expected to recover.

Annie Brown told the Washington Post that her sister, Colt Gray's mother, texted her saying she had spoken to a school counselor and warned staff about a “extreme emergency” before the murders. Brown said Marcee Gray pressured her to “immediately” Go and check on your son.

Brown provided screenshots of the text exchange to the newspaper, which also reported that a call log from the family's shared phone plan showed a call was made to the school at 9:50 a.m. Arrest warrants for Gray say the shooting began at 10:20 a.m.

Brown confirmed the reporting to The Associated Press in a text message on Saturday but declined to comment further.

Marcee Gray expressed her regret for Saturday's shootings to the Washington Post and the New York Post.

“I am so, so sorry and I cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering they are going through,” Gray told the Washington Post in a text message.

“It's awful. It's absolutely awful.” Gray told the New York Post outside her father's home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, about 150 miles south of Atlanta.

Charles Polhamus, the boy's grandfather, has told multiple news outlets that Marcee Gray received a text message from her son apologizing on Wednesday. Polhamus told CNN that Marcee Gray drove to Winder, more than 200 miles from Fitzgerald, immediately after the shooting.

The Washington Post also reported that relatives contacted the school a week before the shooting to inquire about the boy's mental health. Brown also told a relative that he had “Thoughts of murder and suicide.” The newspaper reported that the teenager's grandmother, Deborah Polhamus, met with a school counselor to ask for help.

The young “starts tomorrow with the therapist”, Polhamus texted Brown after the meeting.

Investigators have not commented on what they believe Gray's motive might have been or whether they believe he was targeting specific victims.

Authorities have said Gray's father, Colin Gray, gave him access to the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting. It's unclear how Gray brought the weapon onto campus or what he did with it in the two hours between the start of classes at 8:15 a.m. and the first shooting.

Colin Gray is the first parent of a school shooting suspect to be charged in Georgia, District Attorney Brad Smith said Friday. He is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and child abuse for giving his son the gun.

Colin Gray is in jail in Barrow County after skipping bail in a brief court hearing Friday in Winder. Colt Gray is being held in a juvenile detention center after skipping bail. Neither has been charged or entered a guilty plea.

Lyela Sayarath said Wednesday that Colt Gray left her algebra classroom and that she thought he was skipping class.

In the minutes before the shooting, a female administrator came into her class looking for a student with the same last name and nearly identical first name as Gray, she said. That other student was in the restroom, but the administrator demanded to see his bag. That student returned moments later with his bag, Sayarath said, and told her administrators had concluded he was not the student they were looking for.

Someone also called the teacher on the intercom, apparently asking for Gray, Sayarath said. She said when the intercom buzzed a second time, the teacher responded: “Oh, he’s here,” Gray can be seen in front of the classroom door.

When the students tried to open the door, which locks automatically from the inside, they backed away, Sayarath said. She said she saw Colt Gray turn away through the window in the door and then she heard gunshots – “10 or 15 of them at once, back to back.”

Rabecca Sayarath, Lyela's mother, said she believes the school made a mistake by sending an unarmed administrator to search for Colt Gray instead of one of Apalachee High School's armed security officers.

When asked about her daughter’s statement at a press conference Wednesday night by Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, Smith warned: “With all due respect, ma'am, but I believe your information is incorrect.”

It is unclear whether Barrow County school authorities knew before the shooting that Colt and Colin Gray had already been questioned by a deputy sheriff in neighboring Jackson County in May 2023 after a shooting was reported online at a middle school attended by then-13-year-old Colt Gray.

Colt Gray told the MP that “He would never say something like that, not even in jest,” This is stated in a report by investigators. Due to conflicting information about the social media account through which the threats were made, no action was taken.

Colin Gray told the investigator at the time that Colt had access to unloaded weapons in the house, but knew “how to use them and not to use them.” He also said that his son had been having problems since separating from his wife and that Colt had been bullied at school.

Nicole Valles, a spokeswoman for the Barrow County School District, declined to comment Sunday on emailed questions seeking more details about the events leading up to the shooting.

“As this is an active investigation and legal proceedings have now begun, we are not commenting on specific details,” Valles wrote and referred questions to the district attorney.

Smith did not immediately respond to emails with similar questions Sunday, while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation referred requests for comment to the district attorney.