Winder, Georgia – A 16-year-old who gunned down four people at a Georgia high school laughed in court Friday as one of his victims detailed the lasting damage from being shot in the arm and wrist.
Colt Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 charges stemming from the September 4, 2024, attack at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. The shooting left two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie, dead. Nine others were wounded.
During the sentencing hearing that followed the plea, survivor Natalie Griffith delivered her victim impact statement. Griffith told the court she was shot twice in her left arm and has lost full use of her left hand. She can no longer play the flute in the marching band and still struggles with everyday tasks.
Griffith was speaking quickly when Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm instructed her to slow down. At that moment, Gray and others in the courtroom were heard laughing, according to video of the proceedings and reports from the hearing.
Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, entered the guilty plea without a deal from prosecutors. He faces a mandatory life sentence. The judge will decide whether he will be eligible for parole or spend the rest of his life behind bars. Sentencing is expected to continue early this week as more victims and family members address the court.
Family members of those killed and other survivors have called for the maximum penalty. Several described years of physical therapy, permanent disabilities, and profound grief that has reshaped their lives.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was previously convicted on related charges for providing the AR-style rifle used in the attack and is scheduled for his own sentencing later this month.
The hearing marks the first time many survivors have publicly confronted the teen who opened fire in their school nearly two years ago.
