Georgia ‘shooter’ was ‘punching partitions’ weeks earlier, grandfather says
The grandfather of suspected school shooter Colt Gray says he was ‘punching holes in doors’ and threatened to ‘f*** him up’ two weeks before opening fire on students and teachers at Apalachee High School, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Charlie Polhamus, 81, the former world champion pole vaulter, blames the 14-year-old’s father Colin Gray, 54, for the teenager’s September 4 killing spree, calling him a ‘narcissist’ who got into ‘physical altercations’ with Colt.
Gray’s maternal grandfather claims that Colin, who has been charged in connection with the school shooting, ‘ruined’ the teenager – saying he needed ‘a more supportive environment’.
‘He’s a full-fledged narcissist and he finally getting what he deserves’, Polhamus told DailyMail.com.
Polhamus blamed Colt’s father for his actions, but said that his grandson would have to be punished for the shooting.
Speaking to DailyMail.com from his Fitzgerald, Georgia home, Charlie Polhumus, 81, the maternal grandfather of Colt Gray, 14, said the teen’s father is to blame for his actions
Colt’s father Colin Gray (pictured left) is facing felony charges in connection with the shooting. Polhamus claims the boy’s dad ‘ruined’ Colt and wasn’t a ‘supportive’ parent
Polhamus said Colt ‘didn’t have any guidance’, and he was allowed to watch whatever he wanted on TV and the internet when staying with his father.
He confirmed that Colin and his daughter Marcee had a tumultuous relationship, branding her estranged husband as a ‘narcissist’ and ‘evil.’
Public records show that Marcee spent time in jail as recently as this past April and was banned from contacting Colin without a third-party intermediary.
Marcee, 43, has a record across four Georgia counties dating back to 2007 and includes drug use, domestic violence and property damage, as well as civil claims of fraud.
But Polhamus says that his daughter – and Colt – were targeted by Colin who ‘berated and hollered’ at the pair, as well as ‘beating’ his son.
He claims that he and his wife Debbie were forced to rescue their daughter from Winder, Georgia, where Colt and Colin had been living, after he removed her from rehab two weeks ago.
Speaking to DailyMail.com he said: ‘We had her in rehab, and two weeks ago he went up there for a family weekend and took her back up to Winder with the kids.
‘She wasn’t supposed to be there (in Winder). She was in that house with him and Colt, and we went to get her.
‘I made a comment that there were holes in the doors and walls, and she said it was Colt.
‘As we left Colt came out of the door and started walking down the steps, so I turned to go back to see him, but he said to me: ‘I’ll f*** you up.’
‘My daughter and my wife told me to leave it, and again it just shows the environment that he is in. Marcee said he was just showing off.
‘They had a bunch of guns in gun cases, but they weren’t locked. If you’re going to have them lock them away. But he’s not responsible.
‘Colt is a good kid. Both Colt and Marcee would be fine people today if it weren’t for Colin Gray. You walk into a barn, you come out with s*** all over you.
Colin Gray, 54, appeared in court on Friday after he was arrested over his role in the shooting that killed two students and two teachers, and left nine injured
Since the deadly rampage, it has emerged that Colt, pictured as a toddler, had a seemingly unstable childhood. His mother Marcee (left) has a criminal record spanning more than 17 years and his father Colin (right) was allegedly ‘dysfunctional’ and could be heard ‘screaming and hollering every day’
Colt was introduced to weapons by his father, who claims he took him hunting out of fear he could be caught up in a school shooting and unable to defend himself. Colt is pictured in January 2023 with a 450 Bushmaster AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that he used to kill a deer
‘Colt would not have done what he did had his dad did what he was supposed to do.’
He added that it was possible that Marcee might go and see her son in jail, but the family were unsure if he was allowed visitors currently.
Colt reportedly had a tumultuous few years before the shooting, with his parent’s bitter separation resulting in them moving several times after being evicted.
Marcee was arrested November 6, 2023, on allegations of possession of meth, fentanyl and muscle relaxants but was never charged on the drugs, only the vehicle fraud.
Last December, Gray pled guilty to counts of using a license plate to conceal identity, damage to property and trespassing/family violence, as she used a tag for a Nissan Kick to conceal the identity of her Nissan Rogue.
Colt Gray’s AR-15-style rifle can be seen in the corridor of Apalachee High School
Gray – who lost her job as a Senior Quality Engineer at a local factory – was eligible under a Georgia law that allows certain defendants to plead guilty without being convicted.
On December 21, she was sentenced to five years in jail and banned from having any contact with Colt’s father Colin, as well as paying out $1,500 to the Atlanta construction company he worked for in restitution.
She only had to spend 46 days in confinement before getting the rest on probation, while also having to take part in a family violence intervention program and not use drugs or alcohol.
When asked about his daughters long criminal history, Polhamus again blamed her husband, claiming she was ‘forced’ to go and buy him drugs for his pain medication addiction.
‘That’s how it started with her’, he added. ‘He made her go to get the drugs for $30 a pill because he had back problems, and the doctors wouldn’t give him any more. It’s a messed up situation.’
Polhamus, a former world champion pole vaulter, said Colin and his daughter Marcee – Colt’s mom – had a tumultuous relationship, branding her estranged husband as a ‘narcissist’ and ‘evil’
Colt Gray’s mother Marcee was previously ordered by a court to have only limited contact with Colt’s father after she pleaded guilty in December to a charge of family violence
During the incident in November 2023, Marcee was arrested in Barrow County for keying the words ‘abuser’ and ‘liar’ into her estranged husband’s truck.
Her father admitted that she had tied her 78-year-old mother to a chair two days earlier at their family home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, around 200 miles from Winder.
Court documents state that she threw her mother against a wall, taped her hands and feet to keep her from leaving and broke a bathroom mirror in the woman’s home.
‘She tied her to a chair and left her there, and told her she wanted to kill Colin,’ he admitted. ‘Marcee didn’t want her mother stopping her, but she never assaulted her.’
Reports from Ben Hill County Sheriff’s office show that Marcee was arrested in December and charged with aggravated battery on a person over 65, criminal trespass and false imprisonment.
But her father insists that authorities are going to drop the charges after speaking to his wife Debbie, who explained her daughter never hurt her.
‘She was a top ten student, all four years of high school, graduated number one at Georgia Southern’, Polhamus explained.
‘She’s a good person but she married a son of a b***h.’
He denied that his grandson was gay or trans, saying that he was a ‘man’s man’, but was picked on at school.
The grandfather added that Colt was a ‘good athlete’ and that he had coached the teenager in baseball and football.
Georgia school shooter Colt Gray made his first court appearance on Friday
First responders on the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on September 4, 2024 after a gunmen opened fire inside the school, killing four and injuring nine
After watching his court appearance virtually, he said that the clothes and long hair Colt was sporting was new, telling DailyMail.com: ‘If he was here the clothes and the long hair, he wouldn’t have any of that.’
The father and son both appeared at Barrow County Superior Court on Friday, in shackles and handcuffed at the front of their body.
Colt reportedly told police ‘I did it’ when read his Miranda rights after his arrest on Wednesday.
The teen, dressed in a green t-shirt and grey sweatpants, kept his head down, with his hair covering his face, and spoke softly only to Judge Currie Mingledorff, replying ‘yes sir’ when asked to confirm his name.
Meanwhile his father, Colin, cried as he appeared shortly after his son in the same courtroom, rocking back and forth.
Gray shuffled in wearing a prison-issued striped shirt and tracksuit, in shackles like his son.
He stated his name in a croaky voice, confirming his age, and that he was able to read and write.
Judge Mingledorff advised the elder Gray that he could face up to 30 years in prison for each felony murder count, 10 years for each involuntary manslaughter charges and cruelty to children – the maximum totaling 180 years.
