OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:00 PM – Friday, February 27, 2026
Colin Gray, the father of the teenager accused of the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting, took the witness stand in his own defense on Friday.
Struggling to maintain his composure, Gray, now 55, addressed the jury as he faced 29 counts, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Gray is the first parent in Georgia history to be criminally charged for a mass school shooting purportedly committed by their child. His testimony marks the climax of a two-week trial that has revisited the trauma of the September 4, 2024, attack that left four dead — two students and two teachers — and nine others injured.
The central focus of Friday’s testimony was the Sig Sauer M400 rifle used in the shooting, which Colin Gray purchased as a Christmas gift for his son, Colt, in 2023. Colt Gray, now 16, is currently in custody, being held in a secure juvenile detention facility in Georgia as he awaits his trial.
55-year-old Gray told jurors that he bought the firearm to encourage a bonding experience with his son through hunting and target practice. However, prosecutors countered that the “gift” was purchased just seven months after the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had already investigated the teenager for online threats to shoot up a school.
While Gray claimed the guns were usually kept in his closet, he also admitted that they were sometimes left in Colt’s room and were never secured in a safe. Evidence photos shown earlier in the trial depicted the rifle and a shotgun unlocked in the home.
During a tense cross-examination, the prosecution pressed Gray further on his awareness of his son’s deteriorating mental state.
Prosecutors presented the jury with photos of what investigators characterized as a “school shooter shrine” discovered in the teenager’s bedroom. The display reportedly included images of Nikolas Cruz, the gunman behind the Parkland massacre. When confronted with these findings, Gray adamantly denied any knowledge of his son’s shrine, insisting, “I tell you right now, I never saw anything like that.”
Forensic evidence also revealed that while Gray had searched for mental health facilities in the weeks before the shooting, he failed to follow up when a clinic in Athens finally reached out to him.
During his testimony, Gray recounted a 2021 incident in which he discovered a disturbing search history on his son’s computer, including the phrase “how to kill your dad.” Gray testified that when he confronted Colt about the searches, the boy dismissed the discovery as a harmless way of “venting” during online interactions with friends.
The courtroom grew silent as the final text messages between father and son were displayed. On the morning of the shooting, this was their exchange.
8:34 AM: Colin Gray texted his son wishing him a great day.
9:42 AM: Colt Gray replied: “I’m sorry. It’s not ur fault.”
Only minutes later, the first shots were fired.
In the courtroom, the distraught father wept openly as jurors were shown surveillance footage of the gunfire erupting in the school hallways — video that Judge Daryl McCoy had specifically barred the media from broadcasting or recording to protect the privacy of the victims.
Lead defense attorney Brian Hobbs has centered his case on the argument that Gray’s son engaged in a calculated deception to hide his violent intent from his father. “You cannot hold a person criminally liable for failing to foresee what was deliberately and meticulously hidden from them,” Hobbs argued during his opening statement, framing the teen’s actions as an unpredictable betrayal.
However, District Attorney Brad Smith contends that Gray’s “criminal negligence” directly facilitated the tragedy by providing the minor with the means to carry out the attack.
If convicted on all counts — which include multiple charges of second-degree cruelty to children — Gray faces a maximum sentence of 180 years in prison. This prosecution follows the landmark Michigan convictions of James and Jennifer Crumbley, reflecting a shifting legal landscape that increasingly holds parents accountable for failing to secure firearms or respond to severe mental health red flags.
The trial is expected to move into its final phase early next week with closing arguments and jury deliberations, immediately following Gray’s own testimony and the conclusion of the defense’s case.
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