Georgia
Georgia shooting suspect's mother called Apalachee High School warning of 'extreme emergency,' aunt says
The mother of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect told a family member that she called the school to warn of an “extreme emergency” that morning, according to a report.
Marcee Gray, the mother of 14-year-old shooting suspect Colt Gray, texted her sister after the Sept. 4 shooting unfolded in Georgia.
“I was the one that notified the school counselor at the high school,” Marcee Gray wrote to Annie Brown, the teen suspect’s aunt, according to a screenshot viewed by the Washington Post. “I told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find [my son] to check on him.”
Brown told the Post that her sister had learned concerning information about her son and called the school fearing an “impending disaster.” The aunt said she did not know specifically what the suspect’s mother had learned.
The aunt confirmed the reporting to the Associated Press on Saturday in text messages but declined to provide further comment.
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: SUSPECT’S FORMER NEIGHBORS RECOUNT HARROWING STORIES OF ALLEGED ABUSE, CHAOS
Colt Gray sits in the Barrow County courthouse during his first appearance for the Apalachee High School shooting on Sept. 6, 2024, in Winder, Georgia. (Brynn Anderson-Pool/Getty Images)
The Post reported that a call log from the family’s shared phone plan indicated a 10-minute call from Marcee Gray to the school that began at 9:50 a.m.
That’s about half an hour before witnesses claimed the teen opened fire, according to the Post.
Two students and two teachers died in the shooting. They were identified as 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall and 53-year-old Cristina Irimie.
Another nine people – eight students and one teacher, were injured, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Brown told the Post that a counselor relayed to her sister on the call that the teen had been talking about a school shooting that morning. Around the same time as the mother rang the school, an administrator went to Colt Gray’s math classroom, another student in the class, Lyela Sayarath, told the Post. But Sayarath said there was confusion about Colt Gray and another student with a similar name.
Neither Gray nor the student with the similar name were in the classroom, and the administrator left with a backpack belonging to the similarly named student just minutes before the shooting started, Sayarath said.
In a prior interview, Brown, who lives in central Florida, told the Post that her nephew “was begging for help from everybody around him” for months and that “the adults around him failed him.”
APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT MAKES FIRST COURT APPEARANCE
Marcee Anne Gray in a 2023 booking photo from the Ben Hill County Sheriff Office. Colt Gray, 14, in a booking photo. (Handout)
Screenshots obtained by the Post also showed that Brown had sent a text saying that her mother, the suspect’s grandmother, had met with a school counselor seeking help.
A week before the shooting, the grandmother sent a text saying Colt Gray “starts with the therapist tomorrow.”
Marcee Gray had pleaded guilty to a family violence charge in December and was ordered not to contact her husband, Colin Gray, the Post reported, citing Barrow County Superior Court records.
Colin Gray, 54, the father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, 14, enters the Barrow County courthouse for his first appearance, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
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Colin Gray, the alleged shooter’s father, was arrested on Thursday on two counts of second degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children for allegedly knowingly allowing his son Colt to have a weapon. The teen is being charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder.
Colin Gray told investigators in May 2023 that his son had struggled with his parents’ separation and had been bullied at school.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Georgia
Created in a small Georgia town, a cup has become 1 of the World Cup’s biggest souvenirs
They were designed to hold a drink, but cups produced in Rome, Georgia, have become one of the FIFA Men’s World Cup’s most unexpected souvenirs.
Inside the Top Cup plant in Rome, millions of cups were created to celebrate the world’s biggest sporting event.
“We made 10 million over 70 different graphics for the World Cup,” said Rome native and Top Cup General Manager Zach Dixon.
The plant in north Georgia produces up to 750,000 cups a day.
“We’ve always been really proud of the cup … but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Top Cup CEO David Cuthbert.
Fans have been taking them home from matches. Some have even been listed for sale online.
“We’ve always been really proud of the cup… but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Cuthbert.
Dixon said they begin the process with massive coils of aluminum, each weighing about 30,000 pounds. The metal is stamped, stretched, washed, and moved down the line.
The plant produces about 1,100 cups every minute.
Ricardo Marques, the senior vice president of marketing for Michelob ULTRA, said that there have been venue-specific, match-specific, and Finals-specific stadium cups for the World Cup. There are also three separate red, white, and blue designs available for fans at bars and restaurants around the U.S.
“We’ve seen an incredible response to the collection. Together, these commemorative cups give fans a unique keepsake and a lasting reminder of an unforgettable FIFA World Cup experience and the moments that brought millions of people together through the world’s game,” Marques said.
Cuthbert said his company has seen how the World Cup has done wonders for metro Atlanta businesses.
“Our team in Rome, Georgia takes tremendous pride in helping bring this fan experience to life for one of the world’s biggest sporting events,” he said.
So when soccer fans celebrate the surprise victory or mourn their last-minute loss, they’re doing so with a little piece of Georgia.
Georgia
Mayor Kelly Girtz Inducted Into Georgia Municipal Hall of Fame
Georgia
Athlon Sports tabs Florida-Georgia among SEC’s best games in 2026
Athlon Sports projected the best SEC games for each week of the 2026 regular season.
The conference features some of the most compelling matchups in all of college football, from opening weekend through rivalry week. The selections emphasize games anticipated to have the biggest impact on the SEC championship race and College Football Playoff picture.
Florida’s annual clash with Georgia was tabbed as one of the SEC’s premier fixtures. The game has grown in national significance since it began in 1904, continuing as a battle of blue-blood programs that routinely produces iconic results. The game temporarily moves to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta during the Jacksonville stadium renovations.
The Jon Sumrall era carries with it an increasing sense of belief — many experts see the Gators as a dark-horse CFB playoff contender. Regardless of its final win-loss record, UF will play a part in shaping the season’s narrative as they face several post-season favorites in Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma.
Noted in the article is the SEC’s depth and newly implemented nine-game conference schedule. Georgia, Texas, Alabama and LSU appear multiple times on this list, with Georgia facing Alabama in Week 6 and Ole Miss in Week 10 while LSU hosts Clemson in Week 1 and will see Texas in Week 11 take on Alabama.
Many contenders from the SEC face multiple nationally relevant foes over the course of the season.
Athlon Sports’ Best game for every week of the 2026 season
- Week 1: Clemson at LSU (Sept. 5)
- Week 2: Ohio State at Texas (Sept. 12)
- Week 3: LSU at Ole Miss (Sept. 19)
- Week 4: Oklahoma at Georgia (Sept. 26)
- Week 5: Auburn at Tennessee (Oct. 3)
- Week 6: Georgia at Alabama (Oct. 10)
- Week 7: Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 17)
- Week 8: Ole Miss at Texas (Oct. 24)
- Week 9: Florida vs. Georgia (Atlanta) (Oct. 31)
- Week 10: Georgia at Ole Miss (Nov. 7)
- Week 11: Texas at LSU (Nov. 14)
- Week 12: Texas A&M at Oklahoma (Nov. 21)
- Week 13: Texas at Texas A&M (Friday) (Nov. 27)
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
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