Georgia school shooter Colt Gray’s mugshot revealed as he’s charged with murdering four in Apalachee rampage

Police have released a photo of Colt Gray, the teenager accused of shooting four people to death at his Georgia high school.

Gray is pictured in the booking photo with long, dyed blond hair, a far cry from the smiling, baby-faced boy he was in his high school yearbook two years earlier.

The 14-year-old was arrested Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, minutes after authorities say he opened fire on students and teachers.

Gray has been charged with four counts of murder and will be tried as an adult, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed.

Gray is said to be obsessed with other notorious school shooters, such as Nikolas Cruz, the killer from Parkland, Florida.

When he put down his AR weapon, there were already two dead in the school building. It was the first day of school after summer vacation.

Students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspenwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were named as the deceased.

When police searched the teen’s Georgia home after the massacre, they reportedly found evidence that the teen was “obsessed” with mass shootings, particularly the 2018 Parkland massacre that left 17 people dead.

Gray was known to the FBI after several tips came in about him last year.

In May 2023, Jackson County deputies questioned both Gray and his father about a Discord channel believed to be linked to the then-13-year-old boy, in which threats were allegedly made about a school shooting.

According to agents, the Discord account had a username in Russian and the letters translated to the name Lanza, a reference to Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

Gray denied being the author of the threats and told police he had shut down his Discord after being hacked repeatedly. He expressed concern that someone would make such accusations about him.

According to the NYT, Gray’s father Colin told investigators at the time that his son “knows the seriousness of guns and what they can do, and how to use them and how not to use them.”

Colin reportedly assured officers that he would be “furious” if he found out the allegations about his son making threats were true, and that “all weapons [would] Go away.’

Online, his aunt swore “full throttle blood” when she claimed he had been “abused” his entire life. Those comments were deleted last night after a flood of backlash.

Gray remains in juvenile detention in Georgia, pending his first court appearance, scheduled for Friday morning. He will be charged as an adult, sheriffs said.

According to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, Gray immediately surrendered when confronted by school resource officers at the scene.

It is unclear how the 14-year-old obtained the weapon used in the attack. Authorities have not yet disclosed what type of firearm was used.

Sheriff Smith revealed that Wednesday was Gray’s first “real day” at Apalachee High.

He said, “He was a brand new student at Barrow County Schools, he had enrolled about two weeks earlier. This was his second day at school. He had been there before, he left early, that day and this was his first real full day.”

According to police, Gray opened fire at about 10:23 a.m., killing at least 13 people. Panic ensued at the school.

Footage showed students streaming onto campus as terrified parents rushed to find their children. One mother described the scene outside the school as sheer “chaos.”

Lyela Sayerath, a third-grader, said she sat next to Colt Gray in math class minutes before he began the shooting.

She told CNN that Colt left the classroom at the start of class at 9:45 a.m., about 30 minutes before the active shooter alert sounded.

Gray hadn’t picked up a bathroom pass, she said, so she initially thought he’d simply skipped class. But then a loudspeaker went off, telling teachers to check their email.

Sayerath said Gray came back outside the classroom shortly afterward and a student stood up to open the door for him, but when he saw his gun, he jumped back.

“I think he saw that we weren’t going to let him in. And I think the classroom next to me, their door, was open, so I think he just started shooting into the classroom,” she said.

Sayerath said Gray fired several rounds “one after the other.” He added: “When we heard it, most of the people dropped to the ground and were crawling down, like piled on top of each other.”

Sayerath said her boyfriend was in the classroom next door and saw someone get shot, which left him “shaken.” “He saw someone get shot. He had blood on him. He was limping a little bit. He looked shaken,” she added.

As more information emerges about the school shooting, officially the deadliest in Georgia history, students and parents are expressing their shock at the horrors that unfolded.

One mother, Erin Clark, shared the text messages she had with her son Ethan from the moment he learned there was an active shooter at his school.

He wrote: ‘School shooting rn (right now). I’m scared. I’m not joking.’

His mother responded immediately, assuring him she was leaving work. In a heartbreaking response, Ethan wrote, “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Where are you?” Clark said. Ethan told her he was in class and added, “Someone’s dead.”

On Thursday, distraught students flocked to the school grounds to express their condolences over the tragedy.

A makeshift memorial has been set up with a wreath and flowers. On Thursday, families and students gathered at the somber scene to pay their respects to the lives lost in the tragedy.

President Joe Biden issued a statement following the tragedy condemning gun violence.

He said: ‘What should have been a joyous start to the school year in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart.

‘Students across the country are being taught how to duck and take cover instead of how to read and write.

“We can no longer accept this as normal.”

Biden called on Congress to say “enough is enough” and pass new gun safety legislation, describing gun violence as an “epidemic.”