The father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting that left four people dead.
Colin Gray, 54, is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Colt Gray, the shooting suspect, has been charged with four counts of felony murder.
The father told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023 at a local gun store. The timeline would be months after authorities originally contacted the Gray family to investigate alleged online threats that were made about a school shooting in May 2023.
In the search of the home authorities found documents that they believe Colt Gray wrote referencing past school shootings, including the 2018 murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
A portrait is beginning to emerge of a tumultuous family life in the years leading up to this week’s events, based on court and law enforcement records, social media posts, and an interview with the shooter’s grandfather.
- Gray’s parents went through a bitter separation and custody dispute in recent years. They called law enforcement on each other, the family was evicted from at least one home, and Gray’s mother was arrested for keying her husband’s car and drug possession.
- At the same time, Gray’s mother and maternal grandfather have accused Gray’s father of being verbally abusive toward his family for years.
- According to the shooter’s grandfather, Charles Polhamus, his grandson lived in a hostile environment. “His dad beat up on him, I mean, I’m not talking about physical, but screaming and hollering, and he did the same thing to my daughter.”
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