The mother of alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray sent chilling text messages shortly before four people were killed at Apalachee High School in Winder, Barrow County.
On September 4, police were called to the school on reports of an active shooter.
Two 14-year-old pupils - Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo - and two teachers, Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, sadly died in the attack.
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A 14-year-old named Colt Gray was arrested on suspicion of the shooting, and is set to be tried as an adult.
A further nine people suffered injuries as a result of the shooting, with CNN reporting that Gray allegedly 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.
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Following the fatal attack, harrowing details have emerged about the days and moments leading up to the shooting.
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.
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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."
It was later revealed the teenager had been interviewed back in May 2023 by the FBI, after authorities received anonymous reports someone was making 'online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time'.
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Gray was interviewed, alongside his father, the BBC reports, but the teenager denied making the online threats and was subsequently not arrested at the time.
The FBI said in a statement: "The father stated that he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them [...] At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels."
Gray's father, Colin Gray, has now also 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', the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
UNILAD has reached out to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for further comment.
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Lucy Devine