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Family of suspected Apalachee school shooter Colt Gray threatens ‘full throttle’


Family of suspected Apalachee school shooter Colt Gray threatens ‘full throttle’

The aunt of suspected Georgia school shooter Colt Gray threatened to take “full-throttle action” against anyone who speaks badly about the 14-year-old suspect on social media just hours after the massacre.

Annie Polhamus Brown, who identified herself as Gray’s aunt, rushed to the teenager’s aid in a series of Facebook posts that have since been deleted shortly after authorities identified him as the suspected gunman who opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder on Wednesday.

“They are charging my 14-year-old nephew with murder as an adult,” Brown wrote in one of her Facebook posts after Gray was accused of slaughtering four people and wounding at least nine others in the shooting at his school.

“Ready to see Polhamus’ blood in full swing? No, I wouldn’t be either.”

At least four people were killed and several victims were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. Fox 5 Atlanta
Fatal shots were fired at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

The woman vowed to remain loyal to the suspected shooter and said she would NOT leave her “nephew alone!!!!”

“When Uvalde happened, I told my own children that ‘only hurt people hurt other people,'” Brown wrote, adding that she did “EVERYTHING” she could to “FIGHT” for her nephew.

“I will take care of my nephew and what he needs here – think before you talk about a child who never asked to handle the bulls he sees daily,” she said in the post.

Brown, who posed as Gray’s aunt, rushed to the teenager’s aid in a series of social media posts. Facebook/Annie Polhamus Brown

In her posts, Brown did not elaborate on the issues she believed the teenager was struggling with.

However, she later told the Washington Post that before the massacre, the teenager had “begged everyone around him for help” because of mental health issues.

Brown told the Washington Post that the adults in Gray’s life had “abandoned” him. Facebook/Annie Polhamus Brown

“The adults around him failed him,” Brown said, adding that his obvious problems were exacerbated by harsh conditions at home.

The aunt, who lives in Florida, declined to elaborate on the mental health issues but said she has tried to get him help from afar, adding that she helped him re-enroll in school in January after a period of absence.

Police forces stormed the school while their heartbroken relatives gathered nearby. AP

Previously, the suspected shooter’s relative had asked in a social media post for “someone” to put her in contact with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation following Wednesday’s bloodshed – she claimed she tried to call but was unable to get through.

“I’m not afraid, I’m not going to back down,” Brown said in her rant on social media.

Elsewhere in her tirade, Brown appeared to offer her support to the victims’ families, writing: “I will NOT disrespect other parents and families going through this tragedy on the other side. THEY DON’T DESERVE THIS!!!!”

“Y’all can blame all you want, but THE FAMILIES affected by my nephew’s actions deserve all the attention right now!!!!!!” she added.

Brown made her Facebook profile private shortly after her posts began circulating on social media.

Authorities, meanwhile, said they were still looking for a motive for Wednesday’s bloodshed.

Gray was taken into custody just moments after he allegedly armed himself with an AR-style weapon and opened fire, authorities said.

He was charged as an adult in the deaths of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.

Nine other people were taken to local hospitals after suffering gunshot wounds during the shooting.

Colt Gray is accused of using an AR weapon in the Apalachee High School shooting.

Lyela Sayarath, an 11th-grader who was sitting next to the suspected gunman before the massacre, told CNN that Gray suddenly left her math class at the beginning of the lesson.

Sayarath said that just before Gray suddenly reappeared, someone called over the loudspeaker asking all teachers to check their emails.

Moments later, Gray attempted to return to the classroom, but was repelled by a classmate who apparently saw that he was carrying a weapon.

“They almost let him in, but I’m pretty sure (the teacher) saw he had a gun and that’s why she backed away,” Sayarath told the outlet. “And then he turned away and that’s when you hear what was like the first volley.”

The shooter went into another classroom and opened fire there, she said.

The motive of the suspected shooter is currently unknown, police said. Joshua L. Jones/USA TODAY NETWORK

Meanwhile, the FBI announced late Wednesday that Gray had been on the FBI’s radar since last year, when local authorities were investigating him in connection with online threats of school shootings.

The suspect was identified as Gray, then 13, who had written a series of posts in March last year.

Authorities said they have questioned Gray, his family members and others connected to the teenager since his arrest, but the suspected shooter’s motive remains unclear.

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