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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5a433ae31c7c726bf6558ccd068eab62 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>16-year-old Colt Gray laughed in court Friday as Natalie Griffith, a survivor of his shooting rampage read out her victim impact statement at his sentencing hearing on Friday, July 24 </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f5775f8903fb5127d50d5ccd0954826f wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>Gray was 14 when he carried out the massacre</strong> <strong>at Apalachee High School, Georgia in September 2024, after attending the school for just a few days </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0a9b35b59bd4a81e6eb125c3a1de7dbc wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>He killed classmates Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, as well as<strong> teachers </strong>Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53</strong> </p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e731d2965cad19ea9be097bdd12c1b07 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>Nine other people were injured in the mass shooting </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-baf37a25dd57f8475660afd030888765 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>Gray</strong> <strong><strong>formally admitted to all 55 charges relating to the fatal shooting on Friday</strong> and <strong>was found guilty on 29 counts including second-degree murder and manslaughter</strong></strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b3aa144802d96c25376b01becf5bde2f wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>Per terms of his plea, Gray faces a minimum of life in jail at sentencing next week, however a judge will deciding if he will ever be eligible for parole </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-bcfe31bcd8c2e33f45c7777fbf589a03 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#200404;font-size:14px"><strong>Gray sitting through impact statements from bereaved families, as well as survivors, grinned as Griffith rattled off a fast paced account of the scope and impact of her injuries </strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Colt-Gray-1B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501082" style="aspect-ratio:1.0620712504900363;width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, 16, is seen laughing as a survivor read out her victim impact statement during his sentencing hearing on Friday, July 24. He is facing mandatory life sentencing following his conviction on </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A teenager who shot four people dead in a rampage at his Georgia school was seen laughing Friday as a survivor read out her victim impact statement in court.<br>Within days of starting high school, Colt Gray, then 14, carried out the massacre at Apalachee High School on September 4, 2024.<br>Two students, Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, were killed. Two members of the teaching faculty, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, also lost their lives. <br>Nine other peple were left injured.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Mason-Schermerhorn-and-Christian-Angulo-1B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501090" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Gray embarked on his shooting rampage after attending the school for just a few weeks. The shooting claimed the lives of classmates Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both aged 14</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cristina-Imrie-and-Richard-Aspinwall-1B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501092" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The two other fatalities Cristina Imrie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 29, <strong>were members of the faculty </strong></strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In court Friday, the shooter, Colt Gray, 16, grinned and smiled as one survivor, Natalie Griffith, recounted how the attack had left her unable to use her left hand. <br>On July 24, Gray formally admitted to all 55 charges relating to the fatal shooting. His plea means he must be sentenced to a minimum term of life in jail. However, a judge is has to decide if the convict will ever be eligible for parole.<br>As part of the hearing, the court heard impact statements from the bereaved families. <br>Survivors including, Griffith, also provided testimony of the impact of the shooting. However, as Griffith delivered her address at speed, the judge asked her to slow down, prompting laughter in the court. Ironically, the convict joined in the mirth. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Natalie-Griffith-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501114" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Natalie Griffith was hit twice by Gray&#8217;s bullets. The most damaging shot, according to her dad, was to her wrist. She was 15 at the time</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Colt-Gray-2B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501083" style="aspect-ratio:1.4893752041003028;width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>On Friday July 24, Colt Gray, 16, formally pled guilty to all 55 charges related to the bloody mass shooting at Apalachee High School in September 2024</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">&#8216;I got shot twice, once in my wrist and once in my upper arm,&#8217; Griffith testified.<br> &#8216;I lost the ability to use my left hand, but on some days it doesn&#8217;t feel like that is the biggest thing I lost.&#8217;After the shooting I lost my independence, I could not put on my own clothes or do my own hair, things that were easy for me became a challenge.&#8217;<br>The court also heard from Gray&#8217;s classmate, Nautica Walton, who told him: &#8216;I hate everything about you.&#8217;<br>&#8216;I hate the scars you left on my body. I hate that you took innocent lives in front of innocent people. Most of all, I hate that I let you live in my mind,&#8217; she said.<br>Taylor Brown recalled the harrowing moment she realized she had been shot and how she urged classmates to notify her family.<br>&#8216;I remember telling my friends to call my brother to let him know that I had been shot and I didn’t know if I was going to make it,&#8217; she said. &#8216;My friends were sitting with me, doing anything they could to help me stay awake.&#8217;<br>Survivor Hayden Bowen told the court she has frequent panic attacks and struggles to be alone since the shooting but showed mercy as she addressed Gray in court.<br>&#8216;I want to start off by saying I forgive you,&#8217; Bowen sobbed. &#8216;Not for you, but for me and my peace.&#8217;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Breanna-Schermerhorn-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501096" style="aspect-ratio:1.5086422961022317;width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Breanna Schermerhorn, [photo], the mother of student victim Mason Schermerhorn, wears a pained look at Colt Gray&#8217;s plea hearing on Friday </strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Lilianah-Ahmed-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501097" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong><strong>Mason Schermerho</strong>rn&#8217;s<em> s</em>ister, <strong>Lilianah Ahmed, </strong> walks away in tears, [photo], after testifying during the plea hearing for Colt Gray</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Several family members of those who were killed appealed to Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm to hand down a sentence of life without eligibility for parole. <br>Aspinwall&#8217;s widow told the court the possibility of repeated parole hearings would retraumatize her.<br>&#8216;No sentence the court imposes can bring my husband back,&#8217; she said. &#8216;The grief of losing him is constant.&#8217;<br>Angulo&#8217;s brother called the days since his brother&#8217;s murder a &#8216;nightmare&#8217; as he lamented the unfairness of the situation. <br>&#8216;The defendant&#8217;s family will still get to see their son, talk to him, and know he is breathing,&#8217; he said. &#8216;My mother (and) my father don&#8217;t get that privilege. The only way to visit Christian now is by standing over his grave. There is no fairness in that reality.&#8217; <br>He described his brother as a &#8216;beautiful, innocent soul&#8217; and as he urged the judge to sentence Gray to life in prison without parole.<br>Gray&#8217;s trial laid bare his tumultuous upbringing prior to the shooting as the court heard about his mother&#8217;s addiction struggles.<br>His father Colin Gray was also convicted in connection to the shooting after it emerged he gifted his son the AR-15 style rifle used as a Christmas gift. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Colt-Gray-5B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501110"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Freshman Colt Gray [L-R], terrorized his high school in September 2024, using an AR-15 style weapon he had been gifted by his father. At the end four people were left dead, with another nine sustaining life altering injuries</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Colin-Gray-3B.png" alt="" class="wp-image-501099" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Records show that the teenage shooter&#8217;s father Colin Gray, [photo], was also convicted in connection to the massacre at a separate trial</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He was found guilty on 29 counts including second-degree murder and manslaughter. He will be sentenced next week. <br>Gray carried out the mass shooting after attending Apalachee High for just a few days.<br>Breanna Schermerhorn said Friday her son Mason would have befriended Gray if he had given his classmates a chance.<br>&#8216;I want it to be very clear I do not forgive Mr Gray,&#8217; she said through tears. &#8216;However I do know there are two truths which can exist at the same time. The adults in his young life failed him.<br>&#8216;But those decisions were his and his alone and because of his decision my Macey-Mace is gone.&#8217; <br>She went on to describe the &#8216;horror&#8217; of Mason&#8217;s family member being forced to identify him at the school that day.<br>&#8216;That is an image that he will carry the rest of his life,&#8217; Schermerhorn said.<br>&#8216;I got shot twice, once in my wrist and once in my upper arm,&#8217; Griffith said. &#8216;I lost the ability to use my left hand, but on some days it doesn&#8217;t feel like that is the biggest thing I lost.<br>&#8216;After the shooting I lost my independence, I could not put on my own clothes or do my own hair, things that were easy for me became a challenge.&#8217;<br>The court also heard from Gray&#8217;s classmate, Nautica Walton, who told him: &#8216;I hate everything about you.&#8217;<br>&#8216;I hate the scars you left on my body. I hate that you took innocent lives in front of innocent people. Most of all, I hate that I let you live in my mind,&#8217; she said.<br>Another survivor, Taylor Brown, recalled the harrowing moment she realized she had been shot and how she urged classmates to notify her family: &#8216;I remember telling my friends to call my brother to let him know that I had been shot and I didn’t know if I was going to make it,&#8217; she said. <br>&#8216;My friends were sitting with me, doing anything they could to help me stay awake.&#8217;<br>Hayden Bowen recounted frequent panic attacks and struggles to be alone since the shooting. Shed ended telling Gray &#8216;I want to start off by saying I forgive you,&#8217; &#8230; &#8216;Not for you, but for me and my peace,&#8217; she sobbed.</p>

Georgia teen who shot two classmates and two teachers dead aged 14, laughs as survivor reads victim impact statement at sentencing hearing – Colt Gray, 16, faces life behind bars after pleading to fatal mass shooting
