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By Jordan King
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Bodycam footage from the officers who interviewed Colt Gray in 2023, before he allegedly carried out a school shooting in Georgia last week, has been released.
Colt Gray, 14, has been accused of opening fire in Apalachee High School on Wednesday, September 4, killing two students and two teachers. The victims have been identified as Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, both 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Colt Gray had been interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office on May 21, 2023, after the FBI received reports of online threats about a school shooting. Footage from that interview has now been released and shows officers speaking first to Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, and then the two of them together outside their home, per Atlanta News First.
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Before Colin Gray, now 54, gets his son from inside the house, he tells the officers at his doorstep that they were evicted from their last home.
He says, when asked, that his son Colt Gray plays video games "all the time," that he was "struggling with the separation" of his parents and can "get flustered."
When asked about whether his weapons are accessible to his son, Colin Gray says: "I mean they are—there's nothing loaded, but they are. We do a lot of shooting, we do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year."
"I don't know anything about him saying s*** like that, I'm going to be mad as hell if he did, and then all the guns will go away and they won't be accessible to him," Colin Gray says. "He knows the seriousness of weapons, and what they can do and how to use them and not use them.
"It's kind of a little bit of a shock," he adds. "In whatever you all tell him, please instill in him... whatever or where this has come from, this is no joke." The father also says his son is getting picked on at school and that he has visited Colt Gray's school multiple times, "making sure Colt's good."
When Colt Gray comes out, he tells the police officers multiple times that he would never say anything about a school shooting and insists he has not used Discord, a platform popular with gamers, adding: "Maybe they misheard somebody else."
The officers explain to Colt Gray that the accusation is serious with one saying: "My boss asked if I wanted to leave this until Monday and I said 'no I'd rather do it now, because God forbid something happened and I didn't do my job, I'd feel pretty bad about that, so I just want to make sure that you understand that is something like happened or you hear something like that, report it, tell your dad, tell a teacher."
"I got to take you at your word and I hope you're being honest with me," the officer tells the teenager. "I'm not saying you're lying but it's not unusual for people to lie to police."
Colin Gray also tells the officers that he and his son went through something "traumatic" when they were evicted from their last home.
He said: "[Colt Gray] was at school, I was at work and I come home and I mean every ounce of what he had was under tarps and sitting in that yard—you saw it.
"You saw the clientele and the neighbors that live there, it was very embarrassing. It was very traumatic for both of us and living here, just us, is like the dust has finally settled, he's making good grades."
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Several times during the talk, Colin Gray asks the officers to let them and Colt Gray know if they find out "what or where."
As the interview wraps up, the officer tells them both: "Well my thing is this. More than likely, they tracked the IP address, and that's why we went to that address. IP addresses are usually location-specific, you know, within an area, so, if it came from that house then somebody there is lying or the information is just so old—you know maybe it was something he heard or did on Discord months ago, I don't know.
"But he's telling me he didn't, he's telling me he can't remember anything like that.
"If you look me in the eye and tell me that's what you're telling me, I've got no choice but to take you at your word right now. But like I was telling your dad, if we find out otherwise, then it's a different story."
As the officers walk away from the house, one tells the other: "Pretty much unable to substantiate anything at this point until we get more information from this so-called tip from the FBI."
Contacted by Newsweek, Sheriff Janis Mangum of Jackson County Sheriff's Office said: "My heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones, Apalachee High School and all of Barrow County."
Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder. Colin Gray has been accused of knowingly allowing Colt Gray to access an AR-15-style rifle. He has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
In Wednesday's shooting, nine other victims, including seven who were shot and who were hospitalized, are expected to recover. On Friday, the Grays appeared for the first time in court where their attorneys declined to immediately seek bail.
Update 09/10/24, 6:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to indicate that the Jackson County Sheriff's Office was contacted.
Update 09/10/24, 10:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
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