The Georgia teenager who killed four people and wounded nine others in a shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday was interested in prior school shootings, according to multiple reports.
Colt Gray, 14, was arrested at the scene northeast of Atlanta and later charged with four counts of murder. His first court appearance was scheduled for Friday.
Gray was “obsessed” with the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018, in which former student Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and wounded 17 others, sources told the New York Times.
Gray was a student at Apalachee.
In May 2023, authorities in Jackson County, Ga., investigated Gray after receiving a tip that he made threats online about shooting up a middle school. Gray, 13 at the time, denied making the threats, and his father said he knew nothing about them.
The threats came from a Discord account with a Russian username. According to an incident report obtained by Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB, “translation of the Russian letters spells out the name Lanza, referring to Adam Lanza,” the 20-year-old man who killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Mass., in 2012.
However, the FBI and the local sheriff’s office said they didn’t compile enough evidence to arrest Gray or his father, only to issue a warning to local schools for “continued monitoring” of the teen.
Students at Apalachee High who were interviewed after Wednesday’s shooting told reporters Gray fit the stereotype of a school shooter and often skipped school.
“He skips usually, so you never really know where he’s going,” Lyela Sayarath told CNN, describing how Gray walked out of their math class before attempting to return with a firearm. The door had automatically locked behind him, so he opened fire in the classroom next door.
Students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were identified Thursday as the victims. Aspinwall was also the defensive coordinator for the school’s football team, which canceled a game scheduled for Friday.