Father of Georgia school shooter told police the “greatest day” was when his son killed a deer

Colin Gray, the father of the suspected Georgia school shooter, had previously expressed pride in his teenage son’s pursuit to authorities as authorities investigated alleged threats made by the boy to carry out a school shooting in 2023.

Now the 14-year-old son has been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that left four people dead. Colin, 54, was also arrested and charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse.

In May 2023, the son was questioned by police about his alleged threats to commit a school shooting, the FBI’s Atlanta division previously said.

“The father stated he had hunting weapons in the house, but the offender did not have unsupervised access to them. The offender denied making the threats online,” the FBI said.

In a conversation with investigators, Colin allegedly said he taught his son about guns and hunting to get him to spend time outdoors and play fewer video games. The New York Times citing a recently released audio transcript.

According to the transcript, also obtained by PBS, Colin described a photo of him after he “shot his first deer” and said it was “the greatest day ever.”

According to The New York TimesColin owned several weapons, including an AR-15 style rifle.

When asked by an investigator if the weapons were accessible, Colin reportedly replied, “They’re… I mean, they’re not loaded, but they’re… we do a lot of shooting, we do a lot of deer hunting,” according to the audio recording obtained by Fox News. Colin also reportedly said, “I’ll be furious if he does that,” in response to his son’s alleged threat, and promised to take away his access to the “guns,” the news agency reported.

Want to stay up to date with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter to get breaking crime news, ongoing court coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

According to the FBI, there was no sufficient suspicion to warrant an arrest or further police action, but local schools were notified to ensure the “individual remains under surveillance.”

The September 4 attack killed two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Nine other people were hospitalized with injuries and are expected to “make a full recovery,” authorities previously said.

Colin and the suspect, who is being tried as an adult, made their first court appearance on Friday, September 6.

A judge ruled that the suspect should not face the death penalty because he is under 18, CNN reported, adding that his preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 4. As for Colin, the judge said he faces up to 180 years in prison if found guilty on all counts, according to the source.