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Mother of Georgia suspect said to have called school before shooting, warning of ’emergency’
An official reportedly checked a backpack belonging to the similarly named student. The shooting began moments later
The mother of the suspected Apalachee High School gunman told family members that she called the school on the morning of the shooting and warned a counselor about an “extreme emergency” involving her 14-year-old son, according to text messages obtained by The Washington Post and an interview with a family member.
That account is supported by a call log from the family’s shared phone plan, which shows a 10-minute call from the mother’s phone to the school starting at 9:50 a.m. — about a half-hour before witnesses have said the gunman opened fire.
“I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school,” Marcee Gray texted her sister following the shooting on Sept. 4, according to a screenshot of the exchange. “I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him.”
A counselor told Gray during the call that her son had been talking about school shooting that morning, according to Gray’s sister, Annie Brown, who described family discussions of the events to The Post.
Around the same time, a school administrator went to the son’s math classroom, according to Lyela Sayarath, a student in the class. Sayarath said there seemed to be confusion involving another student in the class with a name similar to that of Gray’s son. Neither student was in the room, and the official left with a backpack belonging to the similarly named student, she said. The shooting began minutes later.
