On Sept. 4, 14-year-old student Colt Gray smuggled an AR-15 into Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Following the end of the second period, Colt opened fire and killed two students, two teachers, and injured nine others. The assault had only lasted a few minutes, but the damage was done.
Colt Gray’s mother had called the school prior to the shooting, to warn them of an “extreme emergency,” and urging them to check on her son. Text messages between her and her sister were later released in which the mother seemed confused as to what took the school so long to go check on him. One of the victim’s family members said that they believe the shooting could have been prevented had the school acted more quickly and taken the warning more seriously. Although the school did not respond to the warnings by Gray’s mother, some of the emergency protocols that were already in place appeared to have saved lives.
“I think what happened is awful and so scary. There must have been something horrible going on in the shooter’s life to make him shoot up his own school. I think a way to stop things like this would be to check in on students more often, because clearly this boy was struggling. It does make me a little nervous going to school because now you never know what can happen. Everyone at their school must have thought they were safe when they obviously weren’t,” said sophomore Catlin Ahmuty.
Installed just a week before the shooting, a new “panic button,” alarm system helped notify the sheriff’s office that there was a shooter on campus before the first gun shot had rung out. The technology was created by a company called Centegix. If the button is pressed four times, it alerts school officials that there is an emergency or “active situation,” but if the button is pressed eight times, it alerts law enforcement. It appears that this system prevented even more fatalities across the country, and other districts are now wondering whether or not to implement this in their schools.
Last year, after threatening to “shoot up,” his school on a Discord account, Colt was investigated by the authorities. When his father was interviewed by the sheriff’s investigator, he claimed his son was struggling with both his parents’ separation at home and bullying at school. Ultimately, they deemed that there was not enough evidence to prove that Colt Gray posed a legitimate threat.
Colt had transferred to Apalachee days before he committed the crime. The sheriff of Winder, GA said in an interview that he wished Colt would have left his past behind him and given his new classmates a chance.
This is one of the first cases where a minors’ parents are also being prosecuted. Not only has Colt Gray been charged with four counts of first degree murder, but also his father has been charged with second degree murder, child cruelty, and manslaughter.
“What happened in Georgia is beyond devastating, but it may serve as a wake up call for our congressmen to improve gun laws,” said freshman Talia Weinshank.
His father knew that Colt had access to a gun. But because of the ongoing investigation, it is unclear whether or not Colt’s gun was given to him by his father or he was able to easily access it without his father knowing. This ongoing trial is being closely watched by the whole country, as students, teachers, parents, and politicians battle with the fight for gun reform in our country.
“I really do hope that this shooting will lead to more gun reforms,” said freshman Bo Smith.