Forbes StaffThe mother apologizes to the victims’ families and defends her son, saying, “My son Colt is not a monster.”
Marcee Gray, mother of the alleged shooter at Georgia High School, Colt Gray, who reportedly shot and killed four in the shooting, defends her son and writes an open letter. The mother of Colt Gray, a 14-year-old accused of killing four at Barrow County, Georgia’s Apalachee High School, has now penned an open letter to the families of the victims. She apologizes but also defends her son, saying he is “not a monster.”
Colt Gray’s mother’s open letter.
Sharing an open letter with CNN, Marcee Gray, mother of the accused of the Georgia High School shooting, said, “To the parents and families of those affected by the tragic events at Apalachee High School, I want to say that I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart. If I could take the place of Mason and Christian [two 14-year-olds killed in the mass shooting], I would without a second thought. As a parent, I’ve always said that the loss of one of my children would be the only thing that I wouldn’t be able to come back from. I feel all of your pain and devastation. I grieve and cry with you. My heart breaks for the two teachers who gave their lives while in the service of teaching and protecting our children.” She added that teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, died while trying to shield their students during the chaos.
The mother defends her son, Colt Gray.
In the letter, she expressed her overwhelming guilt and remorse, writing, “We are all in a living nightmare right now, and I will personally never forgive myself for what has happened.” She continued, “My son Colt is not a monster. He is my oldest baby. He is quiet, thoughtful, caring, funny, and extremely intelligent. Please pray for him and the rest of our family, as I am praying for all of you every moment of every day.”
Marcee Gray, on the day of the shooting, received a text message from Colt that read, “I’m sorry mom,” as per her father, Charles Polhamus, per CNN. She then immediately called the school around 9.50 am, about half an hour before police responded to the shooting. She had reportedly warned the school of an “extreme emergency” and informed a school counselor. Colt Gray’s grandfather, Charles Polhamus, blamed the influence of Colt’s father, Colin Gray, calling him “evil” and claimed that Colt spent years under the influence of a “dysfunctional dad who was a screamer and a hollerer.”
