Alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray and his father appeared in separate court hearings on Friday morning for the first time, two days after the incident unfolded at the Apalachee High School.
At 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Gray was seen at the Barrow County courtroom and was wearing green jail clothes. During the court hearing, he responded, “Yes, sir,” to several of the judge’s questions, including whether he could read or write in English.
Gray, 14, was charged as an adult with four counts of murder in the deaths of Cristina Irimie, 53; Richard Aspinwall, 39; Christian Angulo, 14; and Mason Schermerhorn, 14.
Gray was also told by Mingledorff that there was no bond being requested at that point. He did not enter a plea during the hearing and his lawyer declined to seek bail.
An attorney representing Gray told the court that alternate counsel would be appointed and that “arrangements have already been made in that regard.”
During Friday’s court appearance, Colin Gray was told he would remain jailed without bond.
The bureau said it is a “very difficult time for students and parents and many are afraid.”
“You’ve likely seen reports of incidents of other students making threats today at schools around GA. In each of these incidents, police took charges and made arrests as we take each matter seriously,” the bureau said.
Colt Gray is accused of killing two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta, while nine people were also injured during the incident. He was arrested moments after the gunfire erupted by two sheriff’s deputies who were stationed at the school, officials have said.
Officials have not disclosed a motive for the shooting or revealed how the shooter got the gun into the school.
The teen denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on social media, according to a sheriff’s report obtained on Thursday.
Conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, the report said. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time.
Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents in the country to be held criminally liable for a shooting carried out by their child; in their case, by their son Ethan Crumbley. That shooting resulted in four deaths in 2021. They were convicted in April of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the case.
In that case, they received 10 to 15 years each for failing to take precautions to secure a firearm in their home and for ignoring signs that their son was suffering from mental health issues.
