By Eric Levenson, CNN
(CNN) — Not long after his teenage son’s deadly rampage at a Georgia high school, Colin Gray explained to police why he bought the boy an AR15-style rifle, despite his son’s increasingly aggressive behavior and need for mental health counseling.
Colin Gray said he wanted to get his son Colt into deer hunting as a hobby to help him cope with his tumultuous family life. He said Colt shot a deer in their first outing, leading Colin Gray to believe he had “turned a corner” with his son.
“In my mind, I swear to God, I thought he was gonna be perfect from then on,” he said.
But the rifle Colt was using jammed, so Colin said, “We keep doing good, you’re doing good, maybe Santa Claus will bring you one.”
He then bought his son a rifle as his “big Christmas present” and gave him “the whole speech and everything” about gun safety, he said.
Colin Gray’s comments were part of a 1.5-hour interview with Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Kelsey Ward shortly after the shooting, a recording of which was played in court at Colin Gray’s murder trial on Tuesday.
The recording offered key admissions about Colin Gray’s actions and knowledge of his son before Colt Gray, then 14, brought that AR-15-style rifle to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and opened fire on September 4, 2024. Four people were killed and nine were injured, before the teen surrendered to police.
Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege he allowed Colt Gray access to the firearm despite previous warnings that his son was a danger to others, actions that constitute criminally reckless conduct.
His defense attorney said in opening statements Colin Gray was unaware his son was planning the shooting and had taken steps to try to get him help. It’s not clear if he will testify in his own defense, so the recording could fill in that gap.
Colin Gray’s trial is part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bears close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan.
The trial began last week and has featured emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the shooting, police interviews with Colin Gray, Colt Gray’s spotty school attendance, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in the home and testimony from the teen’s mother and grandmother about their unsettled family life.
Colt Gray has admitted to the shooting, according to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not guilty to 55 felony counts, including four counts of mal