Colt Gray: Georgia shooting suspect’s mother ‘called school 30 minutes before’ attack
The mother of the Georgia shooting suspect called the school 30 minutes warning of an “extreme emergency” before he allegedly opened fire there, his aunt has claimed.
Colt Gray, 14, is accused of shooting dead two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, near Atlanta, on Wednesday.
Another teacher and a further eight students were injured but are expected to make a full recovery, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Annie Brown, the teenager’s aunt, has said her sister called the school counsellor half an hour before gunfire broke out.
She told the Washington Post the boy’s mother warned of an “extreme emergency” involving her son and that they needed to find him “immediately”.
Phone records shared with the newspaper, and later confirmed by the Associated Press, show a 10-minute call was made from the family’s shared phone plan to the school at that time.
Colt Gray at Barrow County courthouse on Friday. Pic: AP
Gray appeared in court on Friday when he was charged as an adult with the murders of Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
His father Colin Gray, 54, also appeared in court and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder for allowing his son to get hold of a weapon.
Colin Gray. Pic: Barrow County Sheriff’s Office
Father interviewed over shooting threats last year
Colin Gray was interviewed by police last year over threats his son made on the gaming platform Discord that he might carry out a shooting.
He told officials he had hunting guns locked in a safe in the family home – but his son did not have access to them.
Read more
What we know about Colt Gray
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He said the teenager had struggled with his parents’ separation and often got picked on at school.
“He knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them,” the boy’s father said, according to a transcript of the interview.
He also mentioned his son becoming “flustered under pressure” and “not really thinking straight”.
“I don’t want him to fight anybody, but they just keep like pinching him and touching him,” he told investigators in May 2023.
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School shooting suspect previously investigated
But ultimately the case was closed after neither Colt nor Colin Gray were successfully linked to the Discord account the threats were made from.
There were no grounds to confiscate the family’s guns either, according to police reports released by the sheriff’s office.
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Colin Gray bought his son an AR-style rifle as a gift after the pair were questioned, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
On Friday a judge ruled that the teenager would not face the death penalty because, as a juvenile, the maximum sentence he can receive is life without parole.
World
Germany: At least one dead and 60-80 injured after car attack in German city – police find suspected explosives in vehicle
At least 11 people have been killed and dozens of others injured after a car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany, local media reports.
News agency dpa said the driver has been arrested following the incident in the eastern city of Magdeburg, while Public broadcaster MDR reports almost 70 people have been injured – 15 seriously.
A city spokesman said the initial assessment is that this was an attack, with all hospitals in the nearby city of Halle preparing for a mass casualty event, according to a security official.
Germany latest as car shown ‘driving at speed’
German newspaper Bild reports at least 11 people have been killed and MDR said police have blocked off the area as there is a suspicion of explosives in the suspect’s car.
City spokesman Michael Reif said he suspects it was a deliberate act, adding there are “numerous injured” and that the “pictures are terrible”.
Magdeburg’s University Hospital said it is treating 10-20 patients and preparing for more, dpa reports.
Emergency services at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. Pic: AP
Germany‘s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said “the news suggests something bad” and that his thoughts are with “the victims and their families”.
The state premier Reiner Haseloff, who is on his way to the scene, said it is a “terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas”, according to MDR.
Pic: AP
Police said on X that “extensive operations” were taking place at the market, which has been closed.
Weihnachtsmarkt Magdeburg has posted on Instagram warning people to leave the market and allow emergency services to do their work.
Pic: D’rthe Hein/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Sky News’s Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins said initial videos from the scene show what appears to be a car “driving at speed” into a crowd at a Christmas market.
“The police have put out a statement saying there’s an extensive police operation that’s going on and they haven’t officially said yet whether this is terror,” she added.
“That of course will be something that a lot of people will be asking. There has been a warning for Christmas markets across Europe to be on high alert for possible terror attacks.”
Pic: dpa via AP
Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser said last month there were no concrete signs of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but added it was wise to be vigilant.
On 19 December 2016, an Islamic extremist drove a car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has a population of about 240,000.
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World
Russia should have invaded Ukraine ‘earlier’ says Putin – as he addresses possible peace talks
Vladimir Putin has said Russia should have invaded Ukraine earlier, in a national address spanning more than four hours.
Russia began the conflict with its neighbour in February 2022 and at his annual televised news conference, Mr Putin claimed the war has made Russia “stronger”.
The decision to invade “should have been made earlier” he added, before stating Russia could have “prepared for it in advance and more thoroughly”.
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He claimed: “Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country.
“We are standing firm in terms of economy, we are strengthening our defence potential and our military capability now is the strongest in the world.”
The news conference also saw Mr Putin address a possible end to the war, as he said he is “ready to compromise” in possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump.
He said he was open to meeting Mr Trump, who has pledged to negotiate a deal to end the conflict, saying the two would “have things to discuss”.
“Politics is the art of compromise. We have always said that we are ready for both talks and compromise,” he said.
Mr Putin’s news conference being broadcast on a giant screen in Moscow. Pic: AP
“Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight,” he continued. “We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises…”
Any talks should be based on “the situation on the ground”, Mr Putin added, referring to conditions he previously laid out.
He has previously demanded Ukraine withdraw its bid to join NATO and asked it to recognise Russia’s gains. Both Kyiv and the West have rejected those demands.
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Mr Putin also said Moscow will only be ready to sign a deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he secures re-election.
Mr Zelenskyy’s five-year term technically came to an end in May but was extended due to martial law.
In response to a question about Moscow’s new hypersonic missile, he mockingly challenged the US to a “high-tech duel” to see whether Western tech could protect Ukraine from a strike using the weapon.
With a dry smile, he said: “Let them select a target, possibly in Kyiv, put their air defence assets there and we shall strike it with the Oreshnik [missile]. Let’s see what happens.”
Zelenskyy responds to Putin’s comments
Mr Putin’s comments have already sparked a strong response from Mr Zelenskyy, who is currently in Brussels for a summit on the Ukraine war.
In response to the duel suggestion, Mr Zelenskyy replied: “Do you think he is a sane person?”
Mr Zelenskyy addressing a European Union leaders summit in Brussels today. Pic: Reuters
In a show of solidarity with Ukraine, a number of EU leaders at the summit repeated a variation of a common mantra – nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about security in Europe without Europeans.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden said: “We need to stand with Ukraine, and every step […] needs to be taken with Ukraine and in the presence of the European Union.
“The future of Ukraine is decided in Europe and not elsewhere.”
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