Georgia school shooter’s father takes the stand and defends introducing his son to firearms

By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Colin Gray, the father of teenage Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, took the stand Friday to testify at his murder trial and defended introducing his son to firearms despite concerns about his mental health.

Colin Gray testified he took his son deer hunting and to the gun range in an attempt to bond with him and get him away from screens and video games.

“My thought process was, I will do whatever I have to do to get Colt interested in the outdoors,” he said.

He said he first bought a Bushmaster rifle that Colt used at the range and out deer hunting. The day Colt shot his first deer was “the greatest day of my life,” Colin Gray said. But when the gun repeatedly jammed, he traded it in for a Sig Sauer – an AR15-style rifle – which he gifted to Colt Gray for Christmas 2023.

Nine months later, Colt Gray, then 14, brought that AR-15-style rifle to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and opened fire. Four people were killed and nine were injured, before the teen surrendered to police.

Prosecutors have accused Colin Gray of allowing his son unsecured access to the weapon despite warnings that his son was a danger to others, actions that constitute criminally reckless conduct. The state rested its case Thursday after about two weeks of testimony.

Gray has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. His attorneys have argued he was unaware his son was planning the shooting and had taken steps to try to get him help.

“You have to believe me when I say that I never, ever in a thousand years thought this could happen,” Colin Gray said in a police interview shortly after the shooting.

Colin Gray’s trial is part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bears close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan.

The teen has admitted to the shooting, according to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not guilty to 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder. A trial date has not been set.

Colin Gray defends his decisions

In his testimony Friday, Colin Gray explained for the jury some of his actions and how he interpreted his son’s troubles.

In May 2023, deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office visited Colt and Colin Gray’s home after receiving an FBI tip about an online threat to shoot up a school.

Colin Gray testified he took the issue very seriously, but said law enforcement was ultimately not able to substantiate the tip. “Nobody could ever really tell me if this was him,” he said.

Colin Gray said he generally kept the firearms on the top shelf of his bedroom closet, without a lock or safe. The Sig Sauer rifle was sometimes in Colt’s room, mainly before or after a trip to the gun range, he testified.

“I was very clear on the rules. No loaded guns in the house ever, and he abided by those rules. He respected the weapon,” he said. “We didn’t have it in a safe. We didn’t have locks on it. But I’m telling you, he had a healthy respect for weapons.”

Colin Gray struggled to explain Colt’s lack of schooling in eighth grade, as records showed he did not attend any school the entire 2023-24 school year. He tried to get Colt into an online home-schooling program, but they couldn’t find an open spot, and Colt fell further and further behind, he said.

“It was never, ‘I don’t give a damn if he goes to eighth grade.’ That’s not what happened here. It was very fluid kind of thing,” he said. “Could I have done better? Yes, I could have done better. I could have done more. I see that now.”

He acknowledged Colt Gray sometimes became “frustrated” and on a few occasions “bull-rushed” him in physical altercations. Still, he described his son as “thoughtful” and “respectful,” and he said their firearm hobby was a way to build their father-son relationship.

Prosecution rested Thursday

The state rested its case Thursday after about two weeks, including emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the shooting, police interviews with Colin Gray, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in the home and testimony from the teen’s mother, grandmother and sister about their unsettled family life.

Earlier this week, jurors heard two lengthy police interrogations of Colin Gray after the shooting.

The father told an investigator he bought Colt the rifle in an attempt to get him away from video games and introduce him to deer hunting. He also acknowledged the teen’s behavior had escalated and become more aggressive in the previous five to seven months, and that he had signed paperwork with the school to get him into counseling.

The defense sought to use the recording to humanize Colin Gray as a working father trying to care for his three children while helping his wife recover from drug and alcohol addiction.

Marcee Gray, the defendant’s estranged wife, testified Colt Gray was riddled with anxiety, easily agitated and had a panic attack. She said it was “very obvious” he needed professional help, but Colin Gray “just didn’t want to deal with it.”

When the state’s final witness was on the stand, prosecutors played for the court surveillance video showing Colt Gray’s movements in school before, during and after the shooting. The video, parts of which were not shown to the public, left Colin Gray in tears at the defendant’s table.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Maxime Tamsett and Isabel Rosales contributed to this report.