Live updates: Colt Gray, Georgia school shooter, pleads guilty and victims deliver emotional statements in court - CNN

What the report says

CNN reported that Colt Gray, now 16, pleaded guilty Friday to murder and other charges tied to the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Gray admitted that, when he was 14, he brought an AR-15-style rifle to the school and opened fire in a math classroom and hallway. The attack killed four people — two teachers and two students — and injured nine others.

After the plea, survivors and relatives of those killed gave victim impact statements describing physical injuries, grief and continuing trauma. CNN reported that family members of Mason Schermerhorn spoke about their loss, while survivor Taylor Jones described surgeries and relearning how to walk. Other survivors described panic attacks, nightmares and lasting wounds from the shooting.

Prosecutors began presenting evidence for sentencing, including notebooks that they said detailed Gray’s plans, drawings of guns and writings about the attack. The court also heard portions of Gray’s police interviews after the shooting, in which he apologized, discussed mental health struggles and described briefly reconsidering before firing. CNN also reported that Gray acknowledged writing an earlier online school-shooting threat, which had prompted a 2023 law enforcement visit but was not substantiated at the time.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue Monday, with prosecutors expected to offer more evidence and defense attorneys planning to call witnesses. Gray will also have a chance to address the court. The judge must decide whether to impose life with the possibility of parole or life without parole, a decision that will determine whether the teenager could ever be released.