Colt Gray, 16, was sentenced today to life in prison without parole for the deadly September 24, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School that left two students and two teachers dead along with nine more wounded.
Gray used an assault-style rifle given to him by his dad as a Christmas gift in the mass shooting.
BREAKING: Georgia teen is sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to all charges in the 2024 fatal mass shooting at Apalachee High School. https://t.co/mtH4Ph0FK0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 28, 2026
From NBC News:
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm handed down the sentence days after Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 counts against him, including murder.
Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult. His trial had been scheduled to start in mid-October.
Teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, died in the shooting.
Investigators said they found in Colt’s bedroom what they described as a shrine to Nikolas Cruz, who was sentenced to life without parole four years ago for the 2018 shooting at a Florida high school that left 14 students and three staff members dead.
Gray, investigators said, also became obsessed with the gunmen responsible for 1989 mass shooting in Colorado at Columbine High School and 2012 killings of mostly children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
NBC News adds that Colt’s parents fought a lot, abused drugs and had hefty financial debts. The family reportedly moved a lot, so Colt went long stretches without being in school. It was during such time that he immersed himself in online “true crime” communities.
Colt’s dad, Colin Gray, reportedly gave the rifle to Colt in hopes of bonding with his son.
Colin was convicted by a jury in March on charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for giving his son what turned out to be a murder weapon.
Colt Gray, the Apalachee High School shooter, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge noted Gray’s callousness, “You weren’t concerned with the horror you wrought, but rather with finding out which mass murderers they were comparing you to.” pic.twitter.com/w0zrX3NVi4
— Court TV (@CourtTV) July 28, 2026
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