GA - Apalachee High School shooting, 4 dead, 9 injured, Winder, Barrow County - 04 September 2024 *father and son arrested*

[NuttMegg]

You're right. The violence in schools is staggering, not just in schools, everywhere we turn. There's a thread on here about this one....

Canada- Girl, 15, set on fire in assault at Saskatoon high school, 5 Sep '24, *14 yr old girl taken into custody"

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/girl-15-set-on-fire-in-assault-at-saskatoon-high-school-police-1.7026855 'A 15-year-old girl was set on fire in an assault at Saskatoon's Evan Hardy Collegiate Thursday afternoon, police say. According to police, emergency calls were received around 12:30 p.m...

www.websleuths.com

I just about shiver thinking of my placid uneventful long ago neighborhood catholic school, our biggest challenge getting donations for sports equipment and once, for fire escape stairs. Same old thing, I know we've posted similarly, playing outside til the streetlights came on, a tranquility that we've all lost forever. I'm expat, no one has guns, occasionally a knife crime. Nothing like the slaughter, now, in the US. So sad.

 

[Msl1966]

The very last line in this post, all CAPS, is true, and it appears, comes from someone else who has worked in public school. We must prevent the weapons from entering the schools.

It has been apparent to me for years. The control of the situation must be done at the main entry doorway(s) to the school, along with protocols in place to secure all other entryways, preventing unwarranted entry. So the question, for me, in my opinion, becomes....why haven't public schools done this?

Yes, I currently work in a high school. For most people who work in schools these days, a day doesn’t go by that you don’t think about it. Not to mention, most high schools practice once a month how to respond if there is an active shooter. It always becomes an issue on mental illness or the right to have guns. Let’s just stop the guns from getting into the school. I think the focus of preventing people from entering schools has been a major focus for years. I could go on and on about all the things schools have done, but it’s not as obvious unless you live it everyday. However half the shooters, if not more, were allowed to be there. So I think this most recent shooting has just made it more obvious that we have to do something that is quick and will stop the gun from getting in.

 

[statt#1]

Yes, I currently work in a high school. For most people who work in schools these days, a day doesn’t go by that you don’t think about it. Not to mention, most high schools practice once a month how to respond if there is an active shooter. It always becomes an issue on mental illness or the right to have guns. Let’s just stop the guns from getting into the school. I think the focus of preventing people from entering schools has been a major focus for years. I could go on and on about all the things schools have done, but it’s not as obvious unless you live it everyday. However half the shooters, if not more, were allowed to be there. So I think this most recent shooting has just made it more obvious that we have to do something that is quick and will stop the gun from getting in.

Exactly. Preventing the weapons from entering isn't the end game, it's only a piece, but an important piece, and something the school district has control of, and can implement, now.

All the other stuff is important, but nobody can really control how a parent/guardian stores weapons, how a killer can get ahold of one, or how a family/child agrees or refuses treatment, or the dynamics of the family, the abuse, the toxicity, the drug use, ad nauseum....all that stuff will continue. But to prevent the ar15 etc. from entering the building, that can be done now right now.

I propose to NOT put procedures in place to prevent firearms from entering public school buildings is negligent at this juncture.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Your post brings up so many truths. One is, a person with a semiautomatic in a public school building owns the hallways, owns wherever he/she roams. He continues to shoot and kill until one of three things happens. He stops. He commits suicide. Someone else stops him.

A public school is a soft target, killers know this, that's part of the problem. The old slogan, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun, actually holds much truth in this scenario.

The other slogan that holds much truth is the answer to why a person needs to carry a gun, or in this case, why should there be trained persons in a school with a gun...answer being, when you need a gun, a 911 call and LE are only minutes away. I guarantee in 3, 5, 7, or 10 minute response time, lots of mayhem may occur.

Students and faculty are sitting ducks, helpless, every time. The only choice is to lock your door and hide. Some more recent training goes beyond the lockdown theory, and is beginning to give power back to faculty, power to choose to run, lockdown, and/or fight back.

I made the argument for rubber bullets, non lethal, at least a person would have something to shoot at the murderer. This kid stopped when a man with a gun confronted him. This is an important point. A shooter likely will attempt to take cover even with rubber bullets being shot at him, allowing time for LE to arrive, or even potentially ending the threat.

"A resource officer confronted the shooter, who immediately surrendered to the deputy and was taken into custody," https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/apalachee-school-shooting-georgia-09-05-24/index.html

If the rifle would never have entered the building we'd not be having this conversation. I know, lots of other murdering possibilities exist outside the building. But preventing entry of firearms in to the building, and having a few trained and armed folks inside the building, moves the building out of the 'soft target' category.

Lastly, none of this happened in a vacuum. I always said, and continue to believe, (and much of this is beginning to surface in mainstream media) my opinion, LE, FBI, Counselors, School personnel, Child Services, Probation....one, or several of these entities had involvement with this murderer over the years. He had to enroll in that new school...that means he, or some parent/guardian, had to show up there to fill out enrollment papers. I don't know Georgia law, but in PA, you don't start school until you have proof of immunization records, and a students file is sent to the new school from the old school. I opine this kids file folder is a thick one.

Sorry for the long post

In 2023, a bill was signed into law in Ohio, which grants local boards of education authority to decide whether to allow their teachers and school workers to carry firearms. As of January 2024 more than 60 districts allow teachers to be armed. In addition to metal detectors, I do think allowing teachers to arm themselves if they so choose is a step in the right direction. AMOO

 

[GoBuckeyes]

She also said that he sat right next to her. It is possible that since he was chronically absent in middle school that his first two weeks were half days with academic classes like math in the morning to help him adjust to being in school again. He missed some of those mornings. He chose to do this on his first full day which also explains why they said he left early the day before. He had been enrolled two weeks before this happened.

It was only his 2nd day at school. He was a recently transferred student. (first full day, 1/2 day the day before)

 

[acutename]

On "X" I saw the video posted by the father of the son killing his first deer and posing with it and the firearm afterwards. Praising the boy extensively, and it looked to me like the same type of firearm, someone else can decide that. If only he had spent half the time (imo) taking the kid in for mental health care.

PS: I'm not against hunting deer.

I think if you have a child with some let-us-say problems and you make hunting and killing an animal the only thing you praise that child for- if you make it the highlight of his life, that could be bad. IMO

 

[GoBuckeyes]

It would make sense that the fear was both homicidal and suicidal. The mother's fear also had to take into account that he had access to an AR15 style gun, which is often a weapon in school shootings AND is not often used in suicides. He also had other gun access. So, if he was at school, the leap was probably harming others and then himself.

But the Mom didn't live with him. Are we sure she knew he had access to a semi-automatic rifle?

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Grandpa of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray says teen’s ‘evil’ father should get death penalty for provoking massacre

The father of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray should get the death penalty for his role in the massacre, the boy’s furious grandfather says.

nypost.com

“Spending 11 years with that son of a screaming and hollering every day — it can affect anybody,” Polhamus, 81, said of his 54-year-old ex-son-in-law, who was married to his daughter Marcee."
He’s evil,” Polhamus said of Gray.
“They couldn’t, they didn’t survive in it,” he said of the family.

Why or how was Colt the only one of the children left in that environment? Did he want to live with his Dad, choose to, I mean?

 

[NuttMegg]

Why or how was Colt the only one of the children left in that environment? Did he want to live with his Dad, choose to, I mean?

Maybe someone else here knows. Iirc there has been "CPS" involvement over the years, so maybe some custodial decision was made, or maybe the boy was old enough to choose.

 

[Breezie]

It was only his 2nd day at school. He was a recently transferred student. (first full day, 1/2 day the day before)

Georgia shooting suspect's grandmother visited school one day before massacre to discuss his behavioral issues, family says

The suspect's grandfather also told CBS News that the boy texted his mother on the morning of the shooting, "I'm sorry."

www.cbsnews.com

The maternal grandmother of the 14-year-old suspect in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia, visited the school the day before the massacre to discuss the suspect's alleged behavioral issues, the family revealed to CBS News Saturday.

"My wife had gone up there…the day before and met with the teachers to get him some, they were having some problems with him not going to school, and this kind of thing," Charlie Polhamus, the maternal grandfather of suspect Colt Gray, told CBS News in a phone interview. "So, my wife went up there. This was the day before all this stuff happened."

Polhamus was unsure what occurred during that visit, but said it did not appear to have resulted in a suspension.

So, he must have started school two weeks before this happened, but he was not going regularly. He had been enrolled two weeks before this happened. His chronic
absenteeism, in middle school, may have led to his first two weeks being half days to help him adjust to being back in school.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Georgia shooting suspect's grandmother visited school one day before massacre to discuss his behavioral issues, family says

The suspect's grandfather also told CBS News that the boy texted his mother on the morning of the shooting, "I'm sorry."

www.cbsnews.com

The maternal grandmother of the 14-year-old suspect in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia, visited the school the day before the massacre to discuss the suspect's alleged behavioral issues, the family revealed to CBS News Saturday.

"My wife had gone up there…the day before and met with the teachers to get him some, they were having some problems with him not going to school, and this kind of thing," Charlie Polhamus, the maternal grandfather of suspect Colt Gray, told CBS News in a phone interview. "So, my wife went up there. This was the day before all this stuff happened."

Polhamus was unsure what occurred during that visit, but said it did not appear to have resulted in a suspension.

So, he must have started school two weeks before this happened, but he was not going regularly. He had been enrolled two weeks before this happened. His chronic
absenteeism, in middle school, may have led to his first two weeks being half days to help him adjust to being back in school.

Thanks @Breezie …… for sharing that. And this line by the grandfather attributed to the grandmother really sticks out IMO:

“they were having some problems with him not going to school,….”

Wonder exactly what that was about. Simply SMH, and mourning the victims and those affected. MOO

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Maybe someone else here knows. Iirc there has been "CPS" involvement over the years, so maybe some custodial decision was made, or maybe the boy was old enough to choose.

I realize there may be some bias from the maternal grandfather. From all accounts so far, however, that home sounds horrific. moo

 

[kaen]

But the Mom didn't live with him. Are we sure she knew he had access to a semi-automatic rifle?

She knew there were guns in the house. She also applauded his use of the AR-15 when he shot his first deer. The maternal side of the family mentioned concern for mental state and gun acess in many media accounts.

 

[statt#1]

I'm very interested in motive in this case. I'd love to know what prompted him to go in to that school and murder 4 people from what I can tell he didn't even know...and give up immediately upon confrontation with a resource officer, not going all out and dying, and truthfully, not killing more than 4.

This is my opinion, for now. He hated school. He didn't want to go. So, and this is purely speculation, based on countless hours of working with teenagers over 25 years. He may have chosen to kill as a way to avoid ever having to go back to school. This is my number one thought on the matter. Or, maybe even as an act of rage towards those family members, and/or employees of the school, in a sort of "I'll show you" kind of way. A final act of a power struggle, where he wins the battle, knowing he'll never have to return to that environment, a punishment of sorts, punishment of those who forced him to attend. I can hear it...you want me to go to school, I'll show you what happens when I go to school.

Once again, I hope some day, to hear what is said when he explains an answer to the question...."why'd you do it?"

 

[Really?]

Wonder what he did when he skipped school.

 

[Baby baby Jane]

I think if you have a child with some let-us-say problems and you make hunting and killing an animal the only thing you praise that child for- if you make it the highlight of his life, that could be bad. IMO

Can’t help but think this “first blood” experience was a rite of passage to making of a man … from my life experience, only the boys were taken out for a “first blood”.

 

[Elley Mae]

Think the grandfather should stop talking. At this point it seems he is covering for daughter to me.

 

[Puzzles8]

" The mother of the teenager suspected of killing four people during a shooting at a Winder, Georgia, high school called to warn a school counselor prior to the attack, according to the suspect’s aunt and grandfather.

Colt Gray, 14, apologized to his mother Marcee Gray on the morning of the mass shooting at Apalachee High School — sending an alarming, cryptic text Wednesday that prompted the mother to warn the school that something could be wrong, his grandfather told CNN, confirming information he first provided to the New York Post.

“I’m sorry, mom,” the text read, according to Marcee Gray’s father, Charles Polhamus, who said he was standing near his daughter at his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, when she received the message. The mother called the school about an unspecified “extreme emergency” involving Colt sometime before the shooting began, Marcee Gray’s sister Annie Brown told the Washington Post and later confirmed to CNN.

A 10-minute call was placed from Marcee Gray’s phone to the school at 9:50 a.m., the Washington Post reported – about 30 minutes before police were notified of the shooting."

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/07/us/apalachee-school-shooting-georgia-saturday/index.html

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

I'm very interested in motive in this case. I'd love to know what prompted him to go in to that school and murder 4 people from what I can tell he didn't even know...and give up immediately upon confrontation with a resource officer, not going all out and dying, and truthfully, not killing more than 4.

This is my opinion, for now. He hated school. He didn't want to go. So, and this is purely speculation, based on countless hours of working with teenagers over 25 years. He may have chosen to kill as a way to avoid ever having to go back to school. This is my number one thought on the matter. Or, maybe even as an act of rage towards those family members, and/or employees of the school, in a sort of "I'll show you" kind of way. A final act of a power struggle, where he wins the battle, knowing he'll never have to return to that environment, a punishment of sorts, punishment of those who forced him to attend. I can hear it...you want me to go to school, I'll show you what happens when I go to school.

Once again, I hope some day, to hear what is said when he explains an answer to the question...."why'd you do it?"

I totally agree that he didn't want to be in school. Perhaps we need to face the fact that forcing a troubled teenager upon teachers, staff, and fellow students doesn't help anyone and doesn't work.

jmopinion

 

[NuttMegg]

I totally agree that he didn't want to be in school. Perhaps we need to face the fact that forcing a troubled teenager upon teachers, staff, and fellow students doesn't help anyone and doesn't work.

jmopinion

These young boys, men, are checking out for good. Some "electrical short" in their brains, somehow it's the happy school kids' fault, the ones who seem normal. <modsnip>

I'm out of here, they think. No going back. That's that. As bad as it can be. They seem to be so calm and compliant afterwards.