Video released of 2023 interview with father and teenager charged in Georgia school shooting

On Monday, authorities released bodycam video of investigators interviewing a man and his teenage son last year. Both are accused of shooting four people at a Georgia school.

They were interviewed after threats about a school shooting were posted online. The teenager, Colt Gray, 14, was asked about the online threats and denied making them.

He is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the fatal shooting of two classmates and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder on Wednesday.

His father, Colin Gray, 54, is the first parent in Georgia to be prosecuted after a child was accused of being involved in a school shooting. He was charged with manslaughter, second-degree murder and child abuse.

Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. Both appeared in court Friday but did not confess.

On Wednesday, the day of the shooting, the FBI and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office released a statement noting that the teenager had been questioned before about a school shooting threat.

The newly released video of the 2023 investigation follows the release of a transcript by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

The transcript shows that on May 21, 2023, Investigator Dan Miller and Deputy Justin Elliott went to the Winders' home, shared by father and son, to inquire about a shooting threat made on the Discord platform.

The teenager denied the online threat and said he had deleted his account on the platform.

Colin Gray told the investigator that despite the family stress, his son was “really good” at school and was under his constant supervision. He had become a frequent visitor to his school.

During the interview, the father described the family's situation, saying he rushed home “one day” after an official called him to report that he was being evicted and that his belongings were outside his residence in a nearby upscale neighborhood.

This was part of a series of stressful events for his son, said Colin Gray. These included bullying at school and the separation of the father from the boy's mother, with whom two of her children lived.

“She took my two younger ones and went home with their mom,” Colin Gray told the investigator. “Colt and I rented a house and came here.”

He told investigators he tried to make sure the boy behaved, respected the power and dangers of firearms, and was not harassed at middle school.

“He had problems at first with the separation and everything,” said Colin Gray. “He gets nervous under pressure. He can't think straight anymore. You just have to give him a hug and get him through seventh grade.”

The teenager told Miller that he had graduated from seventh grade a few days ago.

His father said he taught his son to hunt to keep him away from video games and encourage him to be outdoors.

The comments were in response to a question from Miller about whether Colin Gray had weapons at home and whether they were accessible to his then 13-year-old son.

“I mean, there's nothing loaded,” said Colin Gray. “Actually, we do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year.”

“You see he has blood on his cheeks because he shot his first deer,” said Colin Gray as he showed the investigator a photo. “It was just the greatest day ever.”

If his son threatened to shoot at a school, he would be “furious and all the guns would disappear,” said Colin Gray.

Investigators concluded that there was not enough evidence to link the boy to the threat relayed by the FBI. According to investigative documents, no arrests were made or charges filed with the prosecutor in connection with the threat.

Two law enforcement sources familiar with the school massacre investigation said Colin Gray purchased an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle as a gift for his son after the 2023 threat investigation.

Authorities have not made any connection between this weapon and last week's school massacre, but said the weapon used was based on the AR-15 platform.

Two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, from Apalachee High School, and teachers Richard Aspinwall (39) and Cristina Irimie (53) were killed.

According to official reports, another teacher and eight other students were injured, seven of them hit by gunfire.

The school administration has not yet set a date for the 1,900 students to return to class.