Georgia school shooting suspect hid long gun in poster board on school bus, agent says

(GEORGIA) — When 14-year-old Colt Gray rode the bus to his Georgia high school on the morning of Sept. 4, he had a long gun hidden in a poster board that looked like a school project, surveillance video showed, a state agent said in court Wednesday.

Colt Gray is accused of killing two students and two teachers, and injuring several others, at Apalachee High School that day.

A George Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent who had viewed surveillance footage from the bus and the school appeared in a Barrow County courtroom on Wednesday to describe what the videos captured during a probable cause hearing in the case against Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray.

On the morning of the shooting, Colt Gray left a notebook on his desk in math class, went to the bathroom with his backpack and came out of the bathroom with gloves on and the poster board in front of him, appearing to hide the AR-15-style rifle, the GBI agent said.

Colt Gray knocked on the door of his math class to go back in, and a classmate went to open the door, the agent said. But the classmate saw Colt Gray through the door window, backed up, put her hand over her mouth and told the teacher, the agent said.

The teacher went to the door window, told students to get into the corner and initiated a lockdown, the agent said.

The 14-year-old suspect allegedly entered another classroom and started shooting, the agent said. About six or seven people were shot during the approximately seven seconds the gunman was inside the room.

Colt Gray then ran back toward the bathrooms, and at 10:22 a.m. he allegedly aimed his rifle at a teacher and fired multiple shots, the agent said. The teen then turned toward another hallway and shot two coaches, the agent said. A student then came out of a bathroom and was shot and killed.

Two school resource officers entered the hallway and ordered the 14-year-old to put his rifle down and surrender, the agent said.

The notebook Colt Gray allegedly left on his desk contained a plan on how to execute the shooting, an estimated possible casualty count and sketches of his classroom, according to the agent.

Colt Gray was arrested on murder charges while Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colin Gray is accused of knowingly allowing his son to possess the weapon used in the shooting, according to the GBI.