Revealed: 911 emergency calls and law enforcement dispatches following the lethal incident at a Georgia high school.
CNN is currently listening to the September 4 emergency call recordings and reviewing the dispatch logs from the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The audio recording and logs released Friday are expected to provide fresh insights into the events of that morning, when authorities claim 14-year-old Colt Gray unleashed an AR-15-style rifle within the high school in Winder, Georgia, causing four fatalities. Nine other individuals – eight students and one teacher – who were hurt are expected to make a full recovery, authorities stated.
This tragic event marked the 45th school shooting in 2024 and the deadliest US school shooting since the March 2023 incident at The Covenant School in Nashville that resulted in six lives lost.
Colt Gray, who police allege confessed to the Winder high school attack, is facing four felony murder charges and will be tried as an adult. His attorney, Alfonso Kraft Jr., did not comment when contacted.
Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of child cruelty after authorities accused him of allowing his son to possess a weapon.
The second-degree murder charges apply to the two 14-year-olds killed, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, according to the Barrow County district attorney. Two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, were also among the fatalities.
CNN reached out to Colin Gray’s legal team.
If convicted, Colt Gray will not face the death penalty due to his age, as stated by Judge Currie Mingledorff during a September 6 hearing. Colin Gray faces up to 180 years in prison if found guilty on all 14 charges against him.
Colt Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, reportedly contacted the school before the shooting commenced on September 4, expressing concern after receiving a text from her son saying, “I’m sorry, mom.” It was then that a school counselor informed her of her son’s references to school shootings, leading the mother and the teen’s grandfather to travel 200 miles from Fitzgerald to Winder, Georgia.
An unidentified person also called Apalachee High School that day, warning of shootings at five different schools – with Apalachee to be the first target – according to authorities.
Colt Gray traveled to school that day with the gun concealed in his backpack, like it was a school project, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told CNN affiliate WXIA.
The teenager left his Algebra 1 classroom with his belongings, intending to return, but found the door locked. So, he moved to the neighboring classroom and opened fire, as per a student's account.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office became aware of the gunfire around 10:20 a.m. and arrived at the high school shortly afterward, accompanied by two school resource officers. The suspect surrendered to an officer and was taken into custody, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.
Colin Gray is believed to have acquired the gun allegedly used in the shooting as a Christmas present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
During a search of the Grays’ home, authorities discovered documents they suspect the suspect wrote, referencing past school shootings, including the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida, a law enforcement source told CNN.
This story is still developing and will be updated.
CNN’s Isabel Rosales, Lauren Mascarenhas, Celina Tebor, Eric Levenson, Dakin Andone, Meridith Edwards, Sara Smart, Nouran Salahieh, Steve Almasy, Scott Glover, Holly Yan, Jaide Timm-Garcia, Keith Allen, Rebekah Riess, Devon Sayers, and Kelly McCleary contributed to this report.
The authorities mentioned that this school shooting was the 45th in 2024 and the deadliest since the 2023 incident at The Covenant School in Nashville, which took six lives. During the September 6 hearing, Judge Currie Mingledorff stated that if convicted, Colt Gray, the alleged attacker, would not face the death penalty due to his age.
