Investigators found notebook detailing shooting plans and ‘shrine’ to past killings in home of accused Georgia mass killer
Colt Gray reportedly joked about the Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings in front of his mother, investigators revealed
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Disturbing new details have come to light concerning Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, including allegations that he kept a shrine to killers hidden in his room.
Gray, 14, killed four people — two students and two teachers — earlier this year when he opened fire at the school he attended in Georgia. He now faces four felony murder charges.
In court on Wednesday, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent provided a detailed timeline of the shooting during the probable cause hearing, including the bizarre revelation that the student kept a "shrine" to school shooters in his room, FOX 5 Atlanta reports.
While searching his home, agents found a "shrine of sorts" tucked behind the teen's computer desk. The shrine included approximately 15 photos and newspaper clippings about previous school shootings and school shooters.
GBI agents also recovered a notebook that included sketches that seemingly mirrored his attack, and a checklist for the day of the attack. The checklist included reminders to chamber a round, put on gloves and a hat, and not to shoot anyone in the bathroom.
The shrine was not the only warning sign about Gray’s increasingly concerning behavior.
Marcee Gray, Colt's mother, told the GBI that her son had developed an obsession with guns, and that it had gotten much worse in the weeks prior to the shooting. She also recalled conversations with her son in which he referenced and made disturbing jokes about the Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Colt’s father, Colin Gray, also claimed his son had become more violent toward him and his mother in the months leading up to the shooting, according to investigators.
Marcee also recalled a time when Colt had asked his father to buy him a shooter's mask. When Colt was asked why he wanted it, the teen ostensibly joked that he needed it to "finish his school shooter outfit."
A Barrow County Sheriff's Office investigator also testified on Wednesday, claiming that not only did Colin Gray buy the rifle used in the attack for his son, he also bought him a bore sight and ammunition for the gun.
Several investigators who spoke during the hearing said Colin Gray did not seem surprised when he learned of the shooting and, in their opinions, did not immediately express remorse when he leared about the attacks.
Gray reportely told investigators that he learned of his son's attack after his daughter and his ex-wife both texted him about the shooting. He told GBI agents that he turned on a news broadcast and saw reports of the shooting. He then went to see if his son's AR-15-style rifle was at the house, and discovered it was gone.
In the wake of the shooting, Colin Gray was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
After hearing testimony from the GBI agents and details from the family interviews, the judge ruled there was probable cause to bring Colin Gray's trial to court.