Marcee Gray’s life was in chaos long before her son, Colt, committed a mass shooting at Apalachee High School. With a criminal history spanning 17 years, her destructive path of drug abuse, domestic violence, and legal trouble set the stage for the tragedy that would unfold. Colt may have pulled the trigger, but the toxic environment at home played a significant role in the events that led to the massacre.
Marcee, 43, had a long rap sheet. Arrested in November 2023, she was charged with possession of meth, fentanyl, and muscle relaxants, along with aggravated battery, theft, false imprisonment, and criminal trespass. Court records show that, despite her long history of run-ins with the law, she often skated through with light sentences and probation.
Throughout the years, Marcee shared cryptic posts on Facebook about her troubled relationship with her estranged husband, Colin Gray. In one post, she talked about the abuse her husband had endured as a child, describing his traumatic upbringing and the scars it left on their marriage. She seemed conflicted, both portraying herself as a victim and someone deeply committed to him, writing, “I made a commitment to the Lord and my husband. No one but me understands the pain that my husband lives with every single day.”
But behind the online posts was a darker reality. Marcee had threatened to kill her husband less than a year before the shooting. She had also tied up her elderly mother during a domestic incident, leaving her bound for 24 hours. It was a household marked by violence and instability—factors that undoubtedly influenced Colt’s growing obsession with mass shootings.
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By May 2023, the FBI was already aware of Colt. He had allegedly made threats on the platform Discord about shooting up a school. While Colt denied making the threats, his fixation on mass shootings, particularly the 2018 Parkland massacre, was well known. His Discord username even referenced Adam Lanza, the gunman behind the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Despite these warning signs, Colt’s father, Colin, reportedly bought his 14-year-old son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift in 2023. This decision would prove fatal when Colt used the same gun to carry out the shooting at Apalachee High School. On that fateful day, he opened fire, killing two students and two teachers, while injuring nine others. He was arrested minutes later and reportedly told police, “I did it,” when read his Miranda rights.
Colt’s father, Colin, was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children for providing Colt access to the weapon. Neighbors described the family as troubled, with one recalling how Marcee would lock her children out of the house, forcing them to cry and beg to be let in. Others reported seeing her passed out in her car, intoxicated, while her children waited.
The tragic events at Apalachee High School were the culmination of years of neglect, abuse, and a failure to address the escalating warning signs. Colt’s fascination with mass shooters like Nikolas Cruz, combined with the unstable environment created by his mother’s drug abuse and domestic violence, set the conditions for a disaster waiting to happen.
The Gray family’s tragedy is not just about a single act of violence—it’s about a cycle of trauma and neglect that went unchecked for years. Colt’s actions were horrific, but the roots of the violence run deep, stemming from a household in turmoil and a system that failed to intervene. The tragic shooting is a stark reminder of the consequences of ignoring warning signs until it’s too late.
Featured image via screengrab.
