Georgia school shooting suspect kept gun in backpack, hid in bathroom before attack: GBI
(WINDER, Ga.) — State investigators are revealing new details surrounding the gun a 14-year-old boy allegedly used to kill two teachers and two students at his Georgia high school.
Colt Gray allegedly brought the AR-15-style rifle used in last week’s shooting — a Christmas present from his dad, according to sources — to school on his own, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday. The long gun “could not be broken down,” so the teen hid it in his backpack, the GBI said.
The morning of the shooting, Gray asked his teacher for permission to go to the front office and speak with an unidentified person, the GBI said. The teacher allowed him to leave and take his belongings with him, the GBI said.
The 14-year-old then went to the bathroom and hid from teachers, and later allegedly took out the rifle and started shooting, according to the GBI.
Colt Gray is accused of killing four people and injuring nine others at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4.
Seven of the nine people who were wounded suffered gunshot wounds, the GBI clarified on Thursday.
Colt Gray is charged with four counts of felony murder. More charges will be filed, prosecutors said.
The teen’s father, Colin Gray, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said. He is accused of knowingly allowing his son to possess the weapon used in the shooting, according to the GBI.
Investigators believe Colt Gray received the AR-style gun used in the shooting as a Christmas present from his father, according to sources.
Colt Gray and Colin Gray both made their first court appearances on Friday. Neither has entered a plea and both are set to return to court on Dec. 4.
(PARK CITY, Utah.) — A Utah judge ruled Tuesday that the case of Kouri Richins, the Utah mother accused of murdering her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl, will go to trial.
The 34-year-old realtor and mother of three, who wrote and self-published a children’s book on grieving following her husband’s death, was arrested last year following a lengthy investigation. She was charged with aggravated murder and drug charges in connection with the 2022 death of her husband, Eric Richins.
Eric Richins, 39, was found dead in the couple’s bedroom on March 4, 2022. An autopsy determined he died from fentanyl intoxication, and the level of fentanyl in his blood was approximately five times the lethal dosage, according to the charging document. The medical examiner determined the fentanyl was “illicit fentanyl,” not medical grade, according to the charging document.
Following a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Richard Mrazik said Tuesday that the prosecution had shown probable cause for the charges of aggravated murder and distribution of a controlled substance.
He said the prosecution had also shown probable cause that she attempted aggravated murder on Feb. 14, 2022, after the state claimed she gave him a sandwich laced with fentanyl — a first, failed attempt to kill him, prosecutors allege.
Mrazik further said the prosecutors submitted sufficient evidence to support a reasonable belief that Kouri Richins had fraudulently secured a life insurance policy on her husband’s death in January 2022 and “had a significant financial incentive to secure his death because she would do better under the premarital agreement if he were dead and her businesses were highly leveraged,” Mrazik said.
A not guilty plea to all charges was entered on her behalf in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have alleged Kouri Richins was having an affair and was deeply in debt when she procured illicit fentanyl and attempted to kill her husband a month before he died by poisoning an egg sandwich on Valentine’s Day. He died by a lethal dose of fentanyl on the night of March 3, 2022, according to the probable cause statement in the charging document.
Prosecutor Brad Bloodworth claimed during probable cause arguments in court on Tuesday that Kouri Richins administered the fatal dose of fentanyl in a “lemon shot” so that Eric Richins would “throw it back all at once.”
“She says that in her journal article,” he said. “She learns that it takes a truckload of fentanyl to kill him. She learns that one bite in the sandwich isn’t enough. It has to be administered at once, and it has to be a lot. And that’s why Eric Richins’ toxicology shows five times the lethal amount in his blood and 20,000 nanograms per millimeter remaining in his gastro fluid.”
Her defense, meanwhile, charged there was no evidence she attempted to poison her husband in either instance.
“You have a claim that Mr. Richins was poisoned on [Feb. 14, 2022]. There is no medical evidence. There is no there is no connection, there is no causation, there is nothing but pure speculation that because they believe she tried to kill him and successfully killed him in March, that that must mean she tried it before,” defense attorney Kathy Nester said.
Kouri Richins was also charged with multiple counts of forgery, insurance fraud and mortgage fraud. Prosecutors allege she forged her husband’s signature on an insurance application weeks before he died. The insurance policy, which became effective 10 days before the alleged Valentine’s Day poisoning, had a death benefit of $100,000, according to the charging document.
During the two-day preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented three witnesses, including a detective on the case who spoke to the alleged drug dealer. A cell mapping expert also testified Kouri Richins texted about 30 times in since-deleted messages with an alleged drug dealer leading up to Valentine’s Day 2022. A financial fraud expert also testified about the defendant’s “increasing” debt load from her home-flipping business.
The defense, meanwhile, seized on the fact that detectives never looked at or interviewed other possible suspects in Eric Richins’ death, that there were no pills found in the family’s home and statements detectives made to the alleged drug dealer, a convicted felon, about working with the prosecutor’s office to reduce charges in exchange for information on Eric Richins’ death.
The defense also claimed the cell mapping expert’s data was unreliable.
Bloodworth said there’s evidence Kouri Richins texted her paramour on Feb. 15, 2022, the day after the alleged Valentine’s Day incident, that “if he could just go away … life would be so perfect.”
“And then two weeks later, she assured her paramour, life is going to be different. I promise, hang in there until Friday,” Bloodworth said. “On Friday, Eric Richards is dead.”
Nester argued the text from Feb. 15, 2022, was not proof of murder.
“I mean, this was not a perfect couple. They didn’t have the perfect relationship. But to take a context, one single text, and to say that that gives you a reasonable belief that she tried to kill him the day before, I don’t see the connection at all,” Nester said.
Kouri Richins waived her right to testify, and the defense did not call any witnesses.
Kouri Richins has remained in jail since her arrest in May 2023. She proclaimed her innocence in an audio recording released in May.
“The world has yet to hear who I really am, what I’ve really done or didn’t do,” Kouri Richins insisted in the audio, provided to ABC News through a trusted confidant. “What I really didn’t do is murder my husband.”
Prior to the preliminary hearing, Kouri Richins was appointed new attorneys by the court after her defense filed a motion in May to withdraw from the case due to an “irreconcilable and nonwaivable situation.”
Her defense at the time had also filed a motion asking the court to disqualify prosecutors for what they alleged was gross misconduct, including the claim the state recorded and listened to privileged calls between Kouri Richins and her attorney.
Prosecutors in a statement called the motion “materially inaccurate” and charged it was “filed in bad faith.”
The judge denied the motion to remove the prosecution earlier this month.
A month prior to her arrest in May 2023, the mom of three appeared on a “Good Things Utah” segment on Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX to promote her book. In the segment, Kouri Richins said her husband of nine years died “unexpectedly” and that his death “completely took us all by shock.”
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — The sheriff for Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, which employed the former deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home earlier this month after she called 911 to report a possible intruder, said during public comments Monday night that they had “failed” her.
“Sonya Massey – I speak her name and I’ll never forget it,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said during a “Community Healing & Listening Session” Monday night at Union Baptist Church in Springfield. “She called for help and we failed. That’s all she did: call for help.”
“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Campbell continued. “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”
Sean Grayson, the now-former deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home July 6 while responding to her 911 call, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct in Massey’s death, and remains in custody.
Many attending Monday’s gathering applauded Campbell’s comments, but some expressed fear and outrage concerning law enforcement and community relations in the area.
“I live alone, and even though I already preferred not to call the police, I’m definitely not calling the police now,” Sierra Helmer, a Springfield resident, said Monday. “If I do need help, I should be able to call the police. Police officers are meant to protect and serve, but here in Springfield, apparently, and shown on camera, they harassed and unfortunately kill. Sonya’s tragic death has sparked an outrage in me as a single Black woman who was raised by a Black woman and having many other Black women raise me.”
Helmer’s comments also were met with applause and some cheers from community members.
“I asked Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness,” Campbell said. “I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better, to be better.”
“We will probably never know why he did what he did,” Campbell continued, referring to Grayson, “but I’m committed to providing the best service we can to all of you.”
Campbell also said Monday night that he will not resign his position.
“I cannot step down,” he said. “I will not abandon the sheriff’s office at its most critical moment. That will solve nothing. The incident will remain.”
Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call on July 6 reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage released last week and reviewed by ABC News shows Massey, who was unarmed, telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then shouts at Massey and threatens to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, at which time Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. He was fired from his position with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day the charges were filed against him.
Massey family attorney Ben Crump has said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting. However, Chicago ABC station WLS reported last week that the Justice Department told them in a statement that it “is aware of and assessing the circumstances surrounding the tragic officer-involved death of Ms. Sonya Massey and extends condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Grayson himself has a history of problematic behavior. Prior to his time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
James Wilburn, Massey’s father, criticized Sheriff Campbell for his role in Grayson’s employment and called for Campbell to resign at a press conference last week.
“The sheriff here is an embarrassment,” Wilburn said. “[Grayson] should have never had a badge. And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin and Dhanika Pineda contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who came under scrutiny for the agency’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, has resigned.
Cheatle had faced calls to step down since the shooting at a Trump rally on July 13, which left one attendee dead and two others critically injured.
She announced her resignation Tuesday morning in an email to Secret Service employees, which was obtained by ABC News.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission,” she wrote. “The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
In a statement following her resignation, President Joe Biden said he was “grateful” to Cheatle for her service and that the independent review into the shooting would continue.
“As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” Biden said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas thanked Cheatle for her “lifelong devotion to our country” and for leading “the Secret Service with skill, honor, integrity, and tireless dedication.”
“She is deeply respected by the men and women of the agency and by her fellow leaders in the Department of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “I am proud to have worked with Director Cheatle and we are all grateful for her service.”
In an interview with ABC News after the attack, Cheatle called the incident “unacceptable” and said it was her responsibility to ensure nothing like it would happen again.
“The buck stops with me,” she said. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Cheatle said during the interview she would not resign from her role — a claim she repeated during House testimony on Monday.
During the contentious hearing, Cheatle called the assassination attempt on Trump the “most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.”
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” Cheatle said in her testimony before the House committee. “As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened.”
Cheatle told the committee that she would move “heaven and earth” to ensure that what occurred will never happen again.
“Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death, as the tragic events on July 13 remind us of that,” she said. “I have full confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. They are worthy of our support in executing our protective mission.”
Cheatle had faced calls to resign from both Republicans and Democrats after the shooting. John Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Cheatle in his opening statement at the hearing that he was among those who believe she should resign.
By the end of the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the committee, joined in the calls for Cheatle to resign, saying that the director “has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country and we need to quickly move beyond this.” Following the hearing, Raskin joined Comer in sending Cheatle a letter requesting her resignation.
Critics questioned how the Secret Service could have failed to safeguard the rally area from such an attack, particularly following reports the shooter had been spotted before he opened fire and identified as potentially suspicious.
Cheatle previously told ABC News “a very short period of time” passed between then and the shooting.
“I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” she said. “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”
Cheatle also said that local authorities were tasked with securing the building where the alleged shooter fired the shots before being taken out by a Secret Service sniper, and confirmed that local police were present inside the building while the shooter was on the roof.
“In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter,” Cheatle said. “And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building.”
Some of the criticism of Cheatle has focused on her being a woman, with prominent conservatives, like Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., calling her a “DEI hire” and female Secret Service agents in general as having “physical limitations” that should prevent them from serving.
Cheatle testified before the GOP-led House Oversight Committee on Monday. In a statement announcing the hearing, chairman Comer said, “Americans demand answers” from Cheatle.
“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim, and harmed others,” Comer said. “We are grateful to the brave Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect President Trump after shots were fired and the American patriots who sought to help victims, but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure.”
Cheatle, who was appointed by Biden in 2022, was one of only two women to ever serve as director of the Secret Service. Previously, she had been the first woman to serve as the agency’s assistant director of protective operations.
Before her appointment, she was the senior director in global security at PepsiCo. Before that, she had served with the Secret Service for more than 25 years, including on Biden’s security detail while he was vice president.