Colt Gray: What we know about the 14-year-old school shooting suspect

Published

8 months ago

September 5, 2024

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A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after allegedly shooting dead two students and two teachers at a high school in the US.

A gunman opened fire at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday morning, leading dozens of police officers to swarm the campus as students and teachers rushed to an American football field for shelter.

Police have named the suspect, despite him being a minor, as Colt Gray.

Here’s what we know about the boy so far.

Gray is a student at Apalachee High School and was arrested at the scene of the shooting, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey.

He said law enforcement officers and two school resource officers responded to reports of an active shooter within minutes.

One of the school officers confronted Gray and he surrendered immediately, Barrow County sheriff Jud Smith said, adding: “The shooter quickly realised that if he did not give up, it would end with an OIS [officer-involved shooting].”

The teen, who is currently in police custody, will be charged with murder and tried as an adult, the authorities said.

Sheriff Smith said a motive was unclear and that he did not know whether the victims were targeted or whether there was a connection between the gunman and the victims.

“I don’t know why it happened and we may never know,” he said.

The attack was carried out using an AR-style weapon – a lightweight semi-automatic rifle often associated with school shootings.

Gray had been investigated before

Gray was investigated by police over threats to carry out a similar attack last year, the FBI said in a statement on Wednesday.

They said they received several anonymous tips about someone using photos of guns online to make threats about committing a school shooting.

The FBI interviewed Gray, then 13, and his father, who stated he had hunting guns but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them.

Gray himself denied making the threats online and at the time there was no probable cause for arrest and no further action was taken, the statement said, adding that local schools were alerted “for continued monitoring of the subject”.

Authorities are now re-investigating the incident and any possible connection it may have to the most recent shooting.

After speaking about the FBI statement, Mr Hosey said: “We are also aware of some previous contacts that the Department of Family and Children Services had had with the suspect and his family, and we are pursuing that avenue as well.”

What we know about the victims

The four victims who died have been named as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspenwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.

Christian was described as “a very good kid and very sweet and so caring” by his older sister, Lisette Angulo.

“He was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected. We are truly heartbroken. He really didn’t deserve this,” she added.

Mr Aspenwall and Ms Irimie both taught maths, according to the school’s website, with the former also listed as a defensive coordinator for the football team.

Nine other people, eight students and one teacher, were injured in the attack. Authorities said they were all expected to make a recovery.

‘I didn’t want to die that way’

Witnesses have been talking about the traumatic incident while the investigation continues.

Student Camille Nelms said she was shedding tears when a gunman opened fire on her classroom.

As bullets came flying into her classroom, the teacher and students tried to take shelter in the corner.

“I was crying, I didn’t want to die that way,” Nelms told NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta. “I don’t want to meet the Lord that way.”

Student Jacob King said he had dozed off in his world history class after morning football practice when he heard around 10 gunshots.

He said he did not believe the shooting was real until he heard an officer yelling at someone to put down their gun. He said that when his class was led out, he saw officers shielding what appeared to be an injured student.

Ashley Enoh said she was at home on Wednesday morning when she got a text from her brother, who is a senior at the school.

The message said: “Just so you know, I love you.”

When she asked in the family group chat what was going on, he said there was a gunman at the school.

Shirley Power spoke to Sky News’ US partner NBC News about learning of the shooting at her grandchild’s school from her daughter.

“My daughter called me at work screaming that there was a shooter at Apalachee and begged me to get there as quick as possible,” Ms Powers said.

She said the principal instructed her grandson to run to the band room.

“Start praying, for all the kids, not just my grandson,” she added.

Authorities were alerted to the attack due to a new alarm system that had only been implemented a week earlier.

Sheriff Jud Smith said: “All of our teachers are armed with a form of ID, this alarms us and alerts law enforcement officers after buttons are pressed on the ID.

“It alerts us there is an active situation at the school. We’ve had that about a week now.”

Police said that the actions of teachers saved a number of lives.

On Wednesday night, local council member Power Evans spoke to hundreds of community members at a vigil in a local park.

“Whether you have a student, whether you’re the mother or father of a student, brother or sister, whether you’re a teacher, an Apalachee teacher, this all affects us,” he said.

“We may be a county of 90,000 people, but we’re still a small community, and when one of us hurts, we all hurt.”

Apalachee High School, which had almost 1,900 students last year, began term on 1 August.

Authorities said they were still chasing down a number of leads and carrying out investigations.

World

Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say

Published

5 hours ago

May 9, 2025

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Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.

The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.

Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.

An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.

It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.

On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.

The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.

The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.

Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.

India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.

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World

Pope Leo: How voting for new pontiff unfolded behind closed doors of the conclave

Published

5 hours ago

May 9, 2025

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Pope Leo: How voting for new pontiff unfolded behind closed doors of the conclave

Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.

Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.

Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.

So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?

Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.

A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.

At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.

But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.

An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.

And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.

An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.

But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.

“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.

It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”

World

Russia’s Victory Day parade felt more like a celebration of war than peace

Published

5 hours ago

May 9, 2025

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Russia's Victory Day parade felt more like a celebration of war than peace

Standing on Red Square, this was an intimidating sight, which felt much more like a celebration of war rather than peace.

I could feel the ground shake as the tanks rolled past, their caterpillar tracks on the ancient cobbles providing a deafening clatter.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in fear as the phalanxes of troops roared “Hurrah” in response to their commander in chief.

And the sight of combat drones being paraded on their launchers was actually quite sickening. Weapons that have been at the forefront of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were paraded in a show of pomp and patriotism.

Ukraine war latest: Putin welcomes Xi at Victory Day parade

For the rest of Europe, the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War has been a celebration of peace, but this felt much more like a celebration of war.

And it wasn’t just military hardware on display here, but the very identity of modern Russia.

For this is a country that is now defined by its military and its memory. The glory and sacrifice of 1945 have been weaponised to give credence to Russia’s current course and to make people believe that victory is their right.

For Russians, it served as a rallying cry and there was applause when the troops who have fought against Ukraine marched past.

But for those watching in Kyiv and other European capitals, it was an overt warning that Moscow has no intention of backing down.

The parade was considerably larger in scale than in recent years, when units and hardware have been needed on the battlefield. I think it was a deliberate attempt to project an image of confidence, and so was Vladimir Putin‘s positioning of his guests.

China’s Xi Jinping was given a prime position on the Kremlin leader’s right-hand side. It was no surprise given the economic lifeline Beijing has provided, but it felt like a particularly pointed gesture to the West – that they were looking at a new world order.

Despite that appearance of confidence, there were signs of Moscow’s unease that the parade could be disrupted.

There were snipers on every rooftop. Security was extremely tight. And the mobile internet signal across the city centre was completely shut down for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, meaning none of the international media that had gathered could broadcast any live transmissions.

After the parade finished, Putin saluted the crowds as they spontaneously erupted into rhythmic shouts of “Rus-si-ya” at the sight of him.

Another PR coup complete without interruption, he will have departed as a very happy man.