Relative Says Father of Georgia School Shooting Suspect Bought Assault Weapon to ‘Toughen Up’ the ‘Too Gentle and Tender’ Teen

A relative claims the father of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray believed his 14-year-old son was too "gentle," so he gifted him an AR-15-style rifle to "toughen him up."

According to authorities, last Christmas, Colin Gray gave his son the assault rifle — the same assault rifle Colt is accused of using in the mass shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4 that left two students and two teachers dead.

The victims in the mass shooting were identified as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53. Nine other people — eight students and one teacher — were wounded in the attack.

The concerned family member told the New York Post the way Colin Gray spoke to his son raised eyebrows among family.

“He would call Colt names to his face,” claimed the relative of Colt’s mother, Marcee Gray. “Names that no boy wants to hear: sissy, p****, b****… just names that were meant to break him down and emasculate him.”

“Colin always thought that Colt was too gentle and tender," the relative also alleged, adding, "That’s why I believe he gave him the rifle.”

Colt Gray was charged with four counts of murder and will be tried as an adult. He faces up to life in prison if found guilty. Since he is younger than 18 years old, the judge informed him he will not face the death penalty if convicted.

Colin Gray was also arrested and charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children after the deadly attack. If convicted of all charges, he faces up to 180 years in prison.

Charles Polhamus, the maternal grandfather of the 14-year-old suspected gunman, said his former son-in-law, Colin Gray, is “evil” and “spending 11 years with that son of a b**** screaming and hollering every day — it can affect anybody.” He added, “He (Colt) was a good kid turned bad in a bad situation,” Front Page Detectives previously reported.

Colt has been on the FBI’s radar since last year. At that time, investigators interviewed the boy and his father, who reportedly claimed he had hunting guns that were locked safely away and his son didn’t have unsupervised access to the weapons.

Colt Gray denied making any online threats, and investigators determined they did not find sufficient evidence for an arrest or any other action at the time.

According to police transcripts obtained by The Post, Colin Gray told deputies that his son was often picked on by bullies who would pinch him and taunt him. They would call out in the hallways of school, “Colt’s gay.”

“He’s going through a lot,” his father said at the time. “He just wants us to have a simple life. It was very difficult for him to go to school and not get picked on.”

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The relative noted Colin Gray drew attention among family when he allegedly gave his son the assault rifle. “When I heard it, I was like ‘what the f—‘” the relative told The Post. “You don’t give something like that to a kid. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

The relative added, “There was a lot of talk about ‘making a man’ out of Colt. You know, just that whole mentality of toughening him up and making him stronger. That was Colin’s top priority, and you see where that got us. It’s just so sad.”