In line with investigators, Colt Grey used an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to hold out the assault, killing two academics and two college students.Sources say the rifle was bought by Colin Grey as a Christmas current for his son, simply months after the household had been questioned about on-line threats associated to a possible college taking pictures.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) confirmed Colin Grey’s arrest on Thursday. “In coordination with District Legal professional Brad Smith, the GBI has arrested Colin Grey, age 54, in connection to the taking pictures at Apalachee Excessive Faculty. Colin is Colt Grey’s father,” the GBI posted on X, previously often called Twitter.
Final 12 months, each father and son had been questioned by native authorities after threats appeared on a Discord account tied to potential violence at a faculty. Nevertheless, no concrete proof linked them to the threats. The daddy had claimed that whereas he stored looking weapons in the home, his son didn’t have unsupervised entry. “This case was labored, and on the time the boy was 13, and it wasn’t sufficient to substantiate,” defined Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum. “If we get a choose’s order or we cost any person, we take firearms for safekeeping.”
Regardless of these assurances, investigators now imagine that the rifle utilized in Wednesday’s taking pictures was bought after the preliminary probe. The timeline, offered by Colin Grey, locations the gun buy months after authorities investigated the household. The convenience with which Colt Grey was in a position to entry the weapon stays a key level of focus within the ongoing investigation.
“This case was labored totally final 12 months, however on the time, the proof wasn’t sturdy sufficient to confiscate their weapons,” Mangum added. “If we had strong proof, we might have taken the weapons for safekeeping.”
Jackson County investigators had closed the 2023 case after they had been unable to hyperlink the Grays to the net threats or justify seizing their firearms. Now, with devastating penalties, the case has resurfaced with new urgency.
Colt Grey was arrested shortly after the taking pictures and is being held with out bond on the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Middle. The GBI has introduced that he shall be tried as an grownup, together with his arraignment scheduled for Friday morning through video in Barrow County Superior Courtroom.
The tragic taking pictures marks the primary US college mass taking pictures of the brand new educational 12 months, and investigators are working to find out whether or not warning indicators had been missed and if extra may have been performed to stop Colt Grey from acquiring the weapon that led to this mindless tragedy.