Colin Gray trial: Jurors hear testimony on gun access, family warnings in Apalachee High School shooting
The trial of Colin Gray moved forward this past week in Georgia, as jurors heard emotional testimony and reviewed video evidence tied to the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4, 2024.
Prosecutors focused on what they described as "missed and ignored warning signs" leading up to the shooting that left four people dead. Over several days, the State called students, staff members, and family witnesses to the stand — including Colt Gray's grandmother.
On Monday, jurors watched body camera and cellphone video capturing the chaos inside and outside the school. One clip included a distraught mother pleading with law enforcement after learning her daughter had been seriously hurt.
"My daughter got shot. You have to let me go back in there. Please! Please," the mother shouted.
On Tuesday, a student testified about the moment gunfire erupted.
"There was a kid standing there with a gun. He like stood there and then he started shooting at us," the student told the court.
Midweek, attorneys played police body camera footage from a prior visit to the Gray home. Officers had questioned Colin Gray about threats his son allegedly made on social media.
"He knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do and how to use them and not use them, so it's kind of a little bit of a shock," Colin Gray told officers in the video. "So in whatever y'all are telling him, please instill in him that what if this is whatever, wherever this is coming from, it's no joke."
On Thursday, Apalachee High School counselor Suzette Giddens testified about the district's digital monitoring system, which flags concerning words on student devices for review by administrators and counselors.
"Words such as death or guns or drugs or any of those words sort of throw up a flag to the administrative staff and the counselors for us to follow up with," Giddens said. "The first word that flagged was abuse."
Friday morning, Colt Gray's grandmother, Deborah Polhamus, told jurors she purchased bullets for her grandson as a birthday gift, after first confirming with Colin Gray.
"I told him he had to ask his dad and if it was okay with his dad, I would buy them for him as long as they used them at the shooting range," Polhamus testified. "Coley thanked me for asking, having him ask him, and said it was fine that he, they go to the shooting range, so we went to one of the sporting goods places and bought them."
Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty. His defense team maintains he could not have foreseen the shooting.
The trial is set to continue Monday, with Colt Gray's mother, Marcee Gray, expected to testify.
If convicted, Colin Gray could face up to 180 years in prison.
