Colt Gray, the suspected Georgia high school shooter, came from an "absolutely horrible" home life ... with Child Protective Services called to the Gray family home as many as 4 times by their former neighbor, TMZ has learned.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00The horrific Georgia shooting that resulted in the murders of four people, two students, two teachers.
00:08We now have some insights into what went on at the home of Colt Gray, the shooter.
00:17It really puts a light on his father, Colin, who has also been charged in the murders.
00:24He's been charged with second-degree murder as well as involuntary manslaughter.
00:29Right. And one of the neighbors, one of their neighbors tells us that Child Protective Services came out to the house multiple times
00:38because she called them after she says she witnessed horrific things that were being done by Colt's father
00:46and allegedly by Colt's mother as well, that they just had an incredibly toxic home life.
00:53We should say this aligns with what the sheriff said during the news conference the night of the shooting
01:01where the sheriff mentioned that Child Protective Services had been out to the house.
01:07The reporters never followed up on that at the time, but now this woman is saying, I'm the one that called.
01:14Lauren Vickers says she called at least four times and that Child Protective Services did come out.
01:21Some of the things that she says she saw, the children, Colt and his younger siblings being locked out of the home,
01:29banging on the door trying to get in late at night while the parents were inside beating on each other is the way she described it.
01:39And also that after Child Protective Services was there, that basically the landlord got fed up with this
01:47and said that they cannot continue to live in that home together.
01:51And actually Colt's mother did leave with one of his siblings while Colin, the father, remained in the home with Colt.
02:01And you know, of course, that Colin has been charged partially because he bought a gun.
02:07He bought an AR-15 as a Christmas gift, as you know, after the FBI had come to the house seven months earlier
02:14when it looked like there was a threat that came from the kid's computer.
02:19And so buying that gun and giving him access to the gun, which, by the way, is illegal in Georgia,
02:26where a minor is not allowed to possess a gun, that's why he is now sitting in court.
02:33So much is developing here.
02:35I think a lot's going to come out in the next few days and weeks that are going to get more color to the home life here.
02:41And look, you know, as it appears, they created a monster with this.
02:47Not an excuse. This is no excuse. It just provides context.
02:52It really, to me, provides a lot of context about Colin, the father, and what he's going to be facing in court
02:58that I would not be shocked from what we know already to hear him just get into a plea deal of some sort.
03:08Well, I'm not...
03:10To plead guilty.
03:12He's got two second-degree murder charges right now.
03:16I want to tell you something. I'd been thinking about this all morning.
03:24When I was 18 years old, I had been working as a high school student for Robert Kennedy.
03:31He was my hero.
03:33And when he was assassinated, I started a group called Citizens for a Safe Society.
03:38And I got Tom Bradley, who eventually became the mayor of Los Angeles at the time, he was a city councilman,
03:45I got him to introduce, I wrote a bill, a gun safety bill.
03:50And we lobbied the city council to pass this gun safety bill.
03:54This was a long time ago.
03:56What year was this?
03:581968.
04:00Was this something that you did in reaction to the assassination of MLK and RFK Jr.?
04:07Because I was so involved with RFK.
04:10And so I lobbied this bill and spent a lot of time and effort on it, and I was so naive,
04:16and the NRA came in and they just swatted it down and killed it.
04:20And ever since, I've watched all of these gun control bills fail.
04:25And look, I don't think there's a place in our country for AR-15s, for civilians, I just don't.
04:31And I know some people disagree.
04:33I'm just declaring my view.
04:35I think there is now gun control.
04:38And what I mean by that is when you look at what happened in Michigan with the two parents of the shooter
04:46being convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and now this guy in Georgia,
04:52not only involuntary manslaughter, but second-degree murder,
04:56that is going to send chills through this country when it comes to kids getting access to guns.
05:05And that is a form of gun control that's probably more effective than anything that can get passed right now.
05:11I'm so happy you brought this up because I was thinking about it in response to what Charles said.
05:14Charles, you said I would expect to see a plea deal given the facts.
05:17I think there's a lot on the line here.
05:19And I think that the gun lobby is actually going to line up behind the parents on this to fight against a conviction here.
05:25Because this is, to your point, Harvey, an existential threat to the gun industry.
05:30If all of a sudden there is secondary and tertiary liability for gun crimes like this,
05:34there's going to be a lot of chilling effect on the gun industry.
05:37Here's the problem with that, Jason.
05:39The NRA and others, you can't lobby a jury.
05:43But they can fund his defense.
05:46They can fund his defense and they can file motions for the judge to kick it and then appeal any convictions up the chain.
05:52I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on this father not to accept a plea deal.
05:55And I think he's going to be well funded in his fight.
05:58Hello, this is Malik Taylor from Memphis, Tennessee.
06:01And I think overall it's just a disheartening situation because the ball was dropped in so many areas that could have prevented this.
06:07But, you know, you look in 2024, you don't send your child to school and not expect to ever see them again.
06:12You don't expect a teacher to go into work and never see from them again.
06:15It's a sad situation and it's something that needs to be changed immediately ASAP.
06:19Well, by the way, we've been saying that for a long time.
06:21What we were saying about Colin Gray's attorney, currently he has a public defender.
06:27If that changes and suddenly he has a high-powered attorney.
06:31You know what happened.
06:32Yeah.