Father of boy who carried out school shooting in the US appears in court: 'My son was being bullied'

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

The father of Colt Gray, who carried out a shooting at Apalachee High School where he was a student, has testified in court. In his statement, father Colin Gray noted that his son was called gay by his classmates, according to police interview records recently released from 2023.

54-year-old Colin Gray has been charged in connection with the school shooting that took place last Wednesday in Georgia, which claimed the lives of two students and two adults. Colin's son, 14-year-old Colt Gray, is being tried for the attack that killed four people and injured nine.

In the recently released police interrogation records, Colin Gray states, '[Colt] has been through a lot. [Colt] just wants us to live a simple life. He was excited about starting 8th grade, as he should have been. It was very hard for him to go to school and not be liked by anyone, you know, he went from one thing to another, you know, he was talking to a few friends... They were bullying him.'

In a statement made by investigator Dan Miller, it was alleged that 14-year-old Colt had been singled out and 'made a laughingstock' by his classmates since 2023.

Father Gray also uses the following expressions in the interrogation records: 

'I was trying to get him on the golf team... But they always made fun of him. Oh, look, Colt is gay. He's dating this guy... like that. They were making fun of him every day.' 

Georgia is one of 42 states nationwide that holds parents criminally responsible for their children.

Authorities alleged that Colin allowed his son, Colt, to access the firearms in their home before Wednesday's shooting. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office visited the Gray family home several times before the attack and identified the 14-year-old as a suspect in the shooting at Apalachee High School.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Colin faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.

Gray is being held at the Barrow County Detention Center.

News Source: 12punto