Colt Gray, the 14-year-old shooter accused of shooting four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., and his father, Colin Gray, 54, made separate appearances in Barrow County Court in Winder Friday morning. The younger Gray appeared first, with Judge Currie Mingledorff informing him of his rights, saying he would be tried as an adult and reading the charges against him, which are four counts of felony murder, each punishable by life in prison with no chance of parole or life in prison with the chance of parole.Gray is also accused of wounding nine others in the shooting spree. Mingledorff said because of his age the defendant does not face the death penalty. .About an hour later his father, Colin Gray, who was arrested Thursday night, appeared in the same court with Judge Mingledorff saying he faces 14 charges, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He was told he was facing a maximum of 180 years in prison if convicted on all charges. The father was seen rocking back and forth and crying at the defence desk, while his son was stoic through his appearance. Neither father nor son entered pleas on Friday morning, with each being told there would be separate preliminary hearings on December 4. .Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News Thursday night Colin Gray gave his son an AR-15 style rifle as a gift in 2023, after the pair were interviewed by law enforcement officials in May that year in connection with reported online threats to carry out a school shooting, adding “Colt Gray was not arrested after that interview because he could not be tied to an online account that made the threats, legal documents show,” reports NBC. Fox News reports Georgia authorities have released audio from the 2023 visit to the Gray home after an anonymous report to the FBI over online threats about "possibly threatening to shoot up a middle school" in a group chat on messaging app Discord surfaced. Jackson County Ga sheriff's officers spoke face-to-face with Colt and described their interactions in a detailed investigation report from May 21, 2023, when suspect Colt Gray was 13 years old, after being tipped off by the FBI about a threat on the messaging app Discord, popular with some video gamers, to shoot up a middle school. Here is a transcript of that interview.When the police begin questioning Colin Gray, the father shared more about Gray's home life and the accusation, saying this visit was "bull----" and a terrorist threat." He's going through a lot...very difficult for him to go to school and not get picked on." He told the officer he and Colt's mom got divorced and that they had been evicted. "He struggled at first with the separation. I've been taking him to school. He goes to Jefferson Middle school. He's been doing really good," Colin explained. The officer acknowledges the severity of the visit and Colin agrees and says that Colt "knows how serious it is, trust me." Colin claims he's been up to the school multiple times, blames it on other kids touching his son and says Colt wanted to move out of the school district. Colin then claims his son keeps getting picked on and talks about the importance of gun safety. "Let me ask you this, do you have any weapons in the house?" the officer asks. "I do," Colin says. "Are they accessible," the officer asks. "They are…I mean there's nothing loaded, but they are…we do a lot of shooting, we do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year," Colin says. "like I'm pretty much in shock…I'm pissed off to be honest with you." "I'm a little taken back by the whole thing, but I can tell you this, I take that very serious and so does he, as a matter of fact," Colin says. "I don't know anything about him saying s**t like that. And I'm going to be mad as hell if he did, and then all the guns will go away and they won't be accessible to him," Colin continues. "You know, I'm trying to be honest. I'm trying to teach him about firearms and safety and how to do it all and get him an interest in the outdoors." "Get him away from the video game," the officer responds. "Yeah. Exactly. Right. That's the best. The God-honest truth is, the picture on my phone is him with blood on his cheeks when he shot his first deer. It's just the greatest day ever," Colin says. "So sure, he knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do and how to use them and not use them." "So it's kind of a little bit of a shock. So whatever y'all are telling him, please instill in him what if this is whatever or wherever some come from is no joke. No, like it's no joke," Colin continued. "We wouldn't be here," the officer said "No, I know, I know, and I'm telling you right now we talk about it quite a bit. All the school shootings, things that happen. Yeah, I hear you getting picked on at school. He is. He's getting picked on at school. And, Is everything okay? That's why I keep going up there. No. You know, because you just never you never really know. And I don't want anything to happen to him, so. Yeah. Yeah," Colin finished. The officer then asks to speak to Colt and Colin agrees to get him. Colt enters the room and the officer tells him there will be a report. The officer seems to take Colt at his word, and they even share a laugh about people lying to police The officer and Colt exchanged small talk about school, the end of school and moving on to high school.
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