Georgia school shooting: A timeline of events

By CNN Newsource

Published September 6, 2024 5:51 am

By Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — In the wake of Wednesday’s school shooting in Georgia, a number of tumultuous events leading up to the tragic day stand out. Here is a timeline of developments that, according to officials and court records, occurred before, during and after the shooting that left four dead at Apalachee High School.

• July 2022: Colt Gray’s family was evicted from their home by a Barrow County sheriff’s deputy for failing to pay rent, according to court records. As part of the eviction, sheriff’s records show, deputies collected three firearms, including an AR-15, and at least one hunting bow, and kept them for safekeeping. The weapons were later “released to owner,” the documents say.

• December 2022: Gray’s parents separated. In a comment on a LinkedIn post, Marcee Gray wrote she had left her husband, saying, “Finally separated from my abusive husband of almost 14yrs.”

• May 2023: The FBI received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.” The online threats included photographs of guns, according to the FBI. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office then interviewed Gray, who was 13 at the time, and his father, Colin Gray, who said guns were in the house but his son didn’t have access to them. Colt Gray denied making the threats online, an investigator wrote. Jackson County officials alerted local schools, but authorities determined “there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels,” the FBI said.

• December 2023: Colin Gray, the suspect’s father, purchased the gun allegedly used in the mass shooting as a holiday present for his son, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
• August 2024: An ID system with panic button capability was implemented at Apalachee High School just one week before the shooting, which saved lives, teacher Stephen Kreyenbuhl said Thursday.
• September 4: At around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, Colt Gray left a classroom at the beginning of an Algebra 1 class, student Lyela Sayarath said. Gray returned, the student said, with a gun but was unable to get back into the locked classroom so he went to the classroom next door and opened fire. The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office was notified around 10:20 a.m. and arrived a short while later with two school resource officers. A resource officer confronted the shooter, who immediately surrendered to the deputy and was taken into custody, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said. The shooting left two students and two teachers dead and nine injured. During questioning, Gray told investigators, “I did it.” He was later booked into the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, Smith said. Gray faces four counts of felony murder in connection with the shooting, according to charging documents.
• September 5: On Thursday, Gray’s father, Colin Gray, 54, was arrested in connection with the school shooting 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. Authorities provided an update, saying all nine people wounded in Wednesday’s shooting are expected to make a full recovery.

• September 6: Colt and Colin Gray appeared in court Friday morning. Judge Currie Mingledorff said the teen is not eligible for the death penalty if convicted because he is a juvenile. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death for crimes that were committed before the age of 18. The father could face up to 180 years in prison if convicted on all 14 charges against him, the judge announced. Neither defendant asked for bond.

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