Father of Georgia school shooter receives ‘incalculable number of threats’ in jail after arrest for provide weapon used in mass murder

Colin Gray, the father of Georgia school shooter Colt, has received “countless threats” while in prison for allegedly giving his 14-year-old son the murder weapon.

Gray, 54, is charged with four counts of second-degree murder and two counts of manslaughter for allegedly giving his son the AR-15-style rifle used in a massacre at Apalachee High School that left two students and two teachers dead.

His lawyers have filed a motion to separate the father from the rest of the prison population and keep him as safe as possible, as they believe his fellow inmates feel the same way.

The motion states that the inmates have “feelings of anger and retaliation” toward Gray.

‘In fact, so many lives in the Barrow County community have been impacted in unimaginable ways that it would be reckless to assume that there are NO inmates, currently or in the foreseeable future, in the Barrow County Detention who wish to harm the community. [Gray]’, this is the motion

His lawyers add that Gray has received numerous threats because of the media attention to the tragedy.

Gray is currently being held in the Barrow County Detention Center. A judge has told him that if he is found guilty on all counts, he could face up to 180 years in prison.

Colt Gray’s grandfather, Colin’s ex-father-in-law, has said that Colt deserves to die for turning his grandson into a mass murderer.

Charles Polhamus, 81, said the 14-year-old was “put to do what he did by his father.” Colt’s grandmother reportedly visited the school outside Winder hours before the shooting to discuss his behavior.

“Spending 11 years with that bastard screaming and shouting every day, that can affect anyone,” Polhamus told the NY Post.

“He needs the death penalty.”

The alleged shooter’s parents separated in 2022 after they were evicted from their home. Colt was living with Gray when the shooting occurred.

“Colt has to pay for what he did, but I’m telling you, he was driven, that’s for sure,” Polhamus said from his home in Fitzgerald.

‘Colt is just like a lot of young kids these days, with the pills and the trash they dig up, the blood and all the fighting.

“If you think this doesn’t impact young kids, you’re missing the boat. That was part of Colt’s problem.

‘It’s part of life – and living with a dysfunctional father who was always yelling and screaming.

“There’s no doubt about it. Before this happened to him, he was a good boy. I’ll always say that.”

Polhamus said his wife Deborah had gone to school the day before the shooting as the family’s concerns about Colt grew.

“They were having some problems with him not going to school and things like that,” he said CBS.

Polhamus spoke out after it was alleged that his daughter, Marcee Gray, called her son’s school minutes before the shooting began to warn them of an “extreme emergency”.

‘I told them it was an extreme emergency and that they had to start searching immediately. [my son] “To check on him,” the mother told her sister in text messages seen by the Washington Post.

According to the outlet, a call log from the family’s shared phone plan shows that Gray made a 10-minute phone call to the school at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday, about a half hour before Colt allegedly opened fire.

Then she got into her car and drove to school, a drive of over three hours.

But about halfway through, she realized that the tragedy she was desperate to prevent had already happened.

“I was the one who notified the high school counselor,” he told his sister.

Further text messages from Marcee’s sister indicate that Colt’s school and family had also been in contact about his deteriorating mental health for at least a week before the shooting.

Months earlier, in May 2023, the family had been visited by local police after receiving a tip from the FBI about threats to commit a school shooting.

Colt denied making the threats and Gray told police that while he had shotguns in his home, his son was not allowed to use them unsupervised.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the boy’s father gave him access to the AR-style rifle used in the shooting. Investigators say the rifle was given to him as a Christmas present last December.

Polhamus said his former son-in-law cost the family their “half-million dollar ranch” after he became addicted to drugs following a back injury.

And he said his daughter was swept up in her then-husband’s addiction, but that she had always remained devoted to their three children.

“She’s a good person and a mother,” he insisted. “But I go back to what I said about narcissists: They can change anyone.

“Marcee never did anything to Colt. She just helped him.”

He also said his grandson texted her the morning of the shooting saying, “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Colt didn’t cause it. He did it,” Polhamus said.

“He didn’t wake up one day and decide I was going to kill people. No, he didn’t. He came from an environment.

‘If you step in a wad of shit, what happens to your foot? You step in a wad of shit.

‘This is no different. To live there for 11 years, my daughter and her children.

“If you live in a relationship like that for 11 years, it’s not going to stay stable.”

Several classmates shared similar stories, describing how Colt quietly left math class around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, only to return minutes later with a gun.

Another student, Bri Jones, 14, said she almost opened the door for Gray but stopped herself “as he pulled out his gun.”

“I froze, just like I froze and said ‘no,'” Jones told CNN. “He had all of us in that classroom.”

Jones says she almost opened the door but stopped herself thanks to a tip from her mother.

“I always look outside before I open the door… that’s a habit my mother taught me,” she said.

Even though she saw the gun, Jones said her teacher urged her to open the door “because she didn’t know he had a gun, because she was sitting at her desk.”

“She went to walk over, open the door and I was like, ‘No, he has a gun,’” Jones recalled.

“The shooter, he looked up,” Jones continued. “He looked at me, my teacher, and then there was someone in the hallway. He turned his head and just started shooting.

“Once he started shooting, it seemed like he just kept going. There were so many shots coming one after the other… It felt like he kept shooting forever – and then it stopped.”

Students said that when Gray did not enter his own classroom, he opened fire into the classroom next door while their door was open.

At that moment, teacher Richard Aspinwall was shot dead in front of his shocked class. According to student Malaysia Mitchell, it was traumatic for her.

“We had to drag our teacher’s body all the way into the classroom,” she told CNN. “We heard him take his last breath.”

Fourteen-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were also killed in the deadliest school shooting ever in Georgia, along with math teacher Christina Irimie, 53.

“He pulled the triggers,” Polhamus said. “He killed people and he’s my grandson, and it breaks my heart.”

Colt is being tried as an adult and was told at his trial on Friday that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars for his violent behavior.

His father is charged with eight counts of child abuse and murder and manslaughter.