Marcee Gray, mother of Colt Gray, informed the school of an "extreme emergency" half an hour before the fatal shooting. Concerns about her son had been raised earlier, prompting calls for help that were allegedly overlooked.
In the wake of the tragic shooting at Apalachee High School that claimed the lives of four individuals, disturbing revelations have emerged regarding the events leading up to the incident. Marcee Gray, the mother of 14-year-old suspect Colt Gray, has come forward to claim that she contacted the school with urgent warnings just half an hour before the shooting unfolded.
According to a report published in the Washington Post, Marcee Gray sent a series of text messages to her sister, Annie Brown, following the shooting. In one message, she stated, "I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school. I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him."
Apalachee High School Tragedy: Mother's Warning Ignored
Brown, the teen suspect's aunt, corroborated the account provided by her sister. She revealed that Marcee Gray had become aware of concerning information about her son and had reached out to the school out of fear of an "impending disaster." However, the aunt declined to provide further details on the nature of the information that had prompted her sister's call.
The Post obtained a call log from Gray's family phone plan, which indicated a 10-minute call made from Marcee Gray to the school that began at 9:50 a.m. This call occurred approximately 30 minutes before witnesses reported the teen opening fire.
Apalachee High School Tragedy: Mother's Warning Ignored
Tragically, the shooting resulted in the deaths of 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, as well as 39-year-old teacher Richard Aspinwall and 53-year-old teacher Cristina Irimie. Additionally, nine individuals, including eight students and one teacher, were injured.
Brown informed the Post that during the call to the school, a counselor had relayed to Marcee Gray that the teen had been discussing a possible school shooting that morning. Around the same time as the mother's call, an administrator visited Colt Gray's math classroom, according to another student in the class, Lyela Sayarath.
Apalachee High School Tragedy: Mother's Warning Ignored
However, confusion arose regarding Colt Gray and another student with a similar name. Sayarath reported that neither Gray nor the student with the similar name was present in the classroom, and the administrator left with a backpack belonging to the similarly named student just minutes before the shooting began.
In a previous interview with the Post, Brown expressed her belief that her nephew had been seeking help for months but had been let down by the adults around him. She stated, "He was begging for help from everybody around him... the adults around him failed him."
Apalachee High School Tragedy: Mother's Warning Ignored
Screenshots obtained by the Post revealed that Brown had also sent a text message stating that her mother, the suspect's grandmother, had met with a school counselor to seek assistance. A week before the shooting, the grandmother had sent a text saying that Colt Gray "starts with the therapist tomorrow."
According to the Post, Marcee Gray had previously pleaded guilty to a family violence charge in December and was ordered not to contact her husband, Colin Gray.
Colin Gray, Colt Gray's father, was arrested on Thursday on two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children for allegedly knowingly allowing his son to have a weapon. The teen suspect is being charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder.
In May 2023, Colin Gray informed investigators that his son had struggled with his parents' separation and had been bullied at school.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
