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Chilling drawings in notebook of alleged Georgia school shooter revealed in court hearing for father Colin Gray

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Private notebooks reveal the alleged Georgia school shooter made meticulous plans to kill students and teachers ahead of the deadly tragedy at Apalachee High School.

“Shoot the teacher first,” Colt Gray wrote in a notebook found by investigators in his bedroom, according to testimony from a Georgia Bureau of Investigations official Wednesday.

“Gut shot,” the 14-year-old labeled a stick figure he drew “with a bullet going through their body,” GBI Special Agent Lucas Beyer said on the witness stand. 

The chilling new details were revealed at a hearing Wednesday for Gray’s father, Colin Gray, charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.

Colin Gray purchased the gun for his son for Christmas last year, and investigators testified Wednesday that for months leading up to the deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history, Colin Gray purchased a laser sight, tactical vest and ammunition for his son, all while his son’s mental health was in a downward spiral and his mother Marcee Gray implored Colin to keep the weapons away from their son.

A judge ruled Wednesday there is probable cause enough for the case against Colin Gray to proceed.

More new details were revealed Wednesday about how the 14-year-old allegedly concealed the SIG Sauer M400 rifle on his bus ride to the school in Winder, Georgia, in September.

His backpack wasn’t big enough to conceal the whole gun, so the alleged shooter covered it with a white poster board, officials said.

“By a quick glance it appeared that Colt Gray was possibly transporting a school project,” Beyer said.

The alleged shooter attended his first period class and went to second period with the gun still concealed, Beyer said. Twenty minutes later, Beyer said, he told his teacher he was going to see his counselor. Instead, he went to the restroom, put on a pair of yellow plastic gloves and took out the gun, using the poster board to hide it as he walked towards his classroom.

“He appeared to have it wrapped around his lower torso as if to conceal something,” Beyer said.

His second period classroom door was closed so he found another classroom and opened fire, Beyer said, then ran down the hall and continued shooting. In total, two students and two teachers were killed, and nine others injured. 

Colt Gray is charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder. Attorneys for both father and son did not respond to requests for comment.

He also texted both of his parents while sitting in school before the shooting, GBI Special Agent Kelsey Ward told the court Wednesday.

“I’m sorry. It’s not your fault,” he texted Colin Gray at 9:42 a.m. “You’re not to blame for any of it.”

Next he texted his mother, “I’m sorry,” prompting her to call the school to sound an alarm.

Beyer testified that one notebook was recovered from his second period classroom and read aloud from it on the stand.

“Walk from first to the bathroom, so I’ll set my bag down, open it, put on a vest, take a moment or two to stay calm and really think about if I want to do this,” Beyer read from the notebook. “Take out the poster covering the rifle, take out rifle and prop it against the stall. Vest should be on at this point, get out gloves, put them on, they are in your backpack … zip up backpack, check mag slots.”

The alleged shooter was not wearing a vest or hat but had planned to according to his writings.

“Turn on your red dot, aim down at the floor. Make sure your sight is on,” Beyer read. “Don’t shoot anyone in the bathroom. You’ll alert people.” Beyer also said that the notebook revealed he expected to kill between 21 and 26 people.

Ward testified that two more notebooks were recovered from his bedroom.

“One of [the stick figures] appears to have a head wound and the other one is yelling in horror,” Ward testified of the drawing in one of the notebooks. “Then it shows his stick figure again with the word ‘suicide’ and a smiley face written,” she said, adding that then, “he shows the stick figure shooting himself.”

In the second notebook recovered from his room were more disturbing drawings: “It was a drawing of a rifle with what appears to be ammunition coming out of it. And then the word ‘kids’ written past the ammunition.”

The testimony Wednesday revealed more red flags leading up to the shooting. Beyer testified that the alleged shooter referenced the Parkland school shooting to his grandmother around one week before the shooting. 

“If something terrible happened to me or I did something terrible, would you still love me?'” Beyer said he asked his grandmother.



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New wave of calls for Congress to vote on disaster aid before election

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There is a new wave of calls for Congress to return to Washington to respond to the growing costs of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Multiple members of Congress from hurricane-ravaged states have issued new calls for the U.S. House and Senate to respond to the depletion of funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loan fund. 

“It’s unacceptable that Congress remains in recess while families and businesses across North Carolina and beyond are in urgent need of assistance,” said Rep. Wally Nickel, a first-term Democrat from North Carolina.    

Nickel said, “In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, our communities are struggling to recover and our small businesses are desperate for support as they work to rebuild. Their recovery efforts are stalled without additional funding.”

Congress has returned home through the middle of November, as the entire U.S. House and nearly a third of the Senate face reelection races. Congressional leaders have defied calls for action on the loan funds before the election. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that it had exhausted the available funds in its disaster loan program, which is used by businesses and homeowners who are affected by natural disasters.   According to CBS News reporting earlier this month, the agency had issued warnings to legislators that the hurricanes risked draining needed funds and urged Congress to swiftly approve more money.

The agency said, “Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors.” The agency said it will continue to urge victims to apply for loans “given assurances from Congressional leaders that additional funding will be provided upon Congress’s return in November.”

Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said he has urged Senate leaders to reconvene as soon as possible after assessments of damage and the needs of agencies, including the Small Business Administration. In a statement posted on social media, Scott said he has spoken with the Small Business Administration to discuss the needs of his constituents.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and former state emergency manager, told CBS News, “Thousands of applications are coming in each day for disaster loans following Hurricane Helene and Milton. Congress knew this fund was running low as we left for recess during hurricane season, and we failed to be proactive. We shouldn’t be waiting until mid-November to come back to D.C. and fix this.”

Speaker Mike Johnson’s office did not immediately return a request for comment about Congress returning early to address Small Business Administration funding. On “Face the Nation” Sunday, Johnson addressed questions about whether Congress should return early to respond to calls to bolster funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  

Johnson said, “Congress can’t meet and just send money on a guess or an estimate of what the damages are. The way supplemental disaster funding is provided is that, you know, the state sends in actual needs. It’s assessed by Congress and then handed out that way. But again, remember, they have billions, tens of billions of dollars that were already sent to FEMA, one day before Helene made landfall. So they have plenty of resources.”



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One Direction singer Liam Payne dies in fall from Argentina hotel

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One Direction singer Liam Payne dies in fall from Argentina hotel – CBS News


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Liam Payne, a former member of the boy band One Direction, died Wednesday in a fall from a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentinian police confirmed to CBS News. He was 31.

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Texas man could be first person executed for murder conviction linked to shaken baby syndrome

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Texas man could be first person executed for murder conviction linked to shaken baby syndrome – CBS News


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A Texas man convicted of murder in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter in what was linked to shaken baby syndrome is scheduled to be executed Thursday. However, several medical experts say Robert Roberson’s conviction was based on faulty and outdated scientific evidence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday denied a request for clemency. Nikki Battiste reports.

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