Mom of 14-year-old school shooting suspect breaks silence since the horrific attack
The mom of the alleged Georgia school shooter has spoken out for the first time since her son, Colt Gray, was arrested.
The student, 14, was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, in which four people were killed and nine others injured.
Two 14-year-old pupils - Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo - and two teachers, Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, sadly died in the shooting, at the Apalachee High School in Winder, Barrow County.
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Following the attack, Gray's mother, Marcee, has spoken out for the first time.
According to The Washington Post, Gray apologized to his mom Marcee in a text message before the shooting, which led to her frantically calling the school.
Charles Polhamus, who is Gray's maternal grandfather, told The Post that his daughter had been at his house when Gray sent a message.
It allegedly read: “I’m sorry, mom."
She then rang the school to warn a member of staff of an 'extreme emergency', reportedly telling her sister: “I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school. I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him."
Speaking to The Post outside her father's home, Marcee said: “It’s horrible. It’s absolutely horrible."
When asked if she had anything to say, she added: "Nothing to anyone right now. I’ll have my time to speak. It’s not right now.
“I’m not going to talk about details or anything."
Following the shooting, one of Gray's classmates, Lyela Sayarath, told CNN that the teenager reportedly tried to come into a classroom she was in, when another student noticed he had a gun.
They didn't open the door - which was locked - with Sayarath claiming he then turned to another class.
“I think he wanted to come to us first,” she said.
Meanwhile, another student, Macey Right, said: “I heard gunshots outside my classroom and people screaming, people begging not to get shot.
“And then people sitting beside me (were) just shaking and crying.”
According to CNN, Gray surrendered after he was confronted by a school resource officer.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith explained that after the teenager was arrested and taken into custody, Gray told investigators 'I did it' while being questioned.
Following the teenager's arrest, his father has also been arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who took to Twitter on September 5 to reveal Colin Gray had been arrested 'in connection to the shooting at Apalachee High School' and charged with 'four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children'.
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Lucy Devine