SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
There are still a lot of questions about Wednesday's high school shooting in Winder, Ga. Four people died, and nine others were injured. A 14-year-old freshman is in custody and faces murder charges as an adult. His father was also arrested for allegedly providing the rifle to his son and now faces murder charges of his own. Now there are new details about the boy's mother - specifically, a phone call she made to the high school the morning of the shooting to warn educators about her son's state of mind. Joining us now is Georgia Public Broadcasting's Chase McGee. Hey there.
CHASE MCGEE, BYLINE: Hi. How's it going?
DETROW: So there have been a lot of reports about the alleged gunsman's (ph) mother, that she contacted the school the morning before the shooting. What do we know about her and her efforts to warn school officials?
MCGEE: Yeah, Colt Gray is the alleged shooter, and his mother, Marcee Gray, came into the public eye just a few hours after that shooting at Apalachee High School because of an extensive criminal history. A 2022 LinkedIn post indicated that she'd separated from Colin Gray, the alleged shooter's father, and moved to South Georgia. And according to her sister, Marcee Gray called Apalachee High School about 30 minutes before the shooting, and during a 10-minute phone call, she says she spoke to a school counselor and urged them to find her son. But it's not really clear yet what happened between that phone call and the first shots fired. There's still a lot of questions.
DETROW: And how much do we know exactly about what was said in that phone call?
MCGEE: We know just a little bit. We understand that she claims to have spoken to the counselor at the school. We don't know exactly what was said, but a school administrator allegedly did go to the classroom to find the boy, but there's some confusion there. There's another student with a similar name who is in the same algebra class. Neither student, the alleged shooter or the other boy with a similar name, was in the room, and the classroom - and the administrator left. A few minutes later, a gunman tried to enter the classroom but was prevented because of a locked door. And the Georgia Bureau of Investigation continues to be the lead agency examining what happened.
DETROW: Yeah. And the school district, you know, of course, canceled classes for the week after the shooting took place, but tomorrow is Monday. Will students be returning to class?
MCGEE: So no one's going back to school on Monday morning. The Barrow County schools won't open until Tuesday morning, with the exception of Apalachee High School, and it's not yet clear when they're going to reopen. As for those other schools, they've promised they'll have more security, including law enforcement, at each school. Of course, we've seen a significant number of copycat-style threats at schools around the state after the shooting.
DETROW: Yeah. And what do we know about what sort of support students will have when they do return?
MCGEE: Yeah. The Georgia Emergency Management Center is opening a community recovery center in Winder. It's going to provide financial assistance, legal services and spiritual and mental health care to the community. I will note the community support really started within hours of the shooting. We saw at a vigil that night city employees and local church members handing out water and comforting mourners. Like we've seen after other tragedies across the nation, the community is coming together to care for one another.
DETROW: That's Chase McGee with Georgia Public Broadcasting. Thanks so much.
MCGEE: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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