Student who sat next to shooting suspect Colt Gray reveals his ODD behavior moments before massacre

A junior at Apalachee High School who was sat next to shooting suspect Colt Gray revealed the alleged gunman’s chilling behavior moments before he opened fire – and how she and her classmates narrowly avoided death. 

THE GUNMAN’S WEIRD BEHAVIOR

Lyela Sayarath said she was sat next to the 14-year-old in algebra class on Wednesday morning, and had no indication of the horror that would unfold as she described him as a ‘quiet’ teen. 

‘He never really talked, he wasn’t (in school) most times, he would just skip class,’ she told CNN. ‘Even when he would have talked, it was one word answers.’ 

Sayarath said she ‘wasn’t surprised’ when Gray was identified as the shooter, and said that ‘when you think of shooters and the way they act, it’s usually the quiet kid and he was the one that fit that description.’ 

THE MORNING OF THE SHOOTING

She said on the morning of the shooting, Grey excused himself from the room minutes before shots rang out, but when he left she assumed he was merely skipping class again. 

Sayarath said Gray left the classroom at 9:45am, around half an hour before active shooter alerts sounded, and thought he was skipping class as he didn’t take a bathroom pass from their teacher. 

But while he was gone, a loudspeaker announcement told teachers to check their emails, before Sayarath said Gray re-appeared at their classroom door. 

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Still not realizing the danger, Sayarath said a student went to open the door for Gray before jumping back at the sight of his gun.

‘I guess he saw we weren’t going to let him in. And I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open so I think he just started shooting in the classroom,’ she said.

She said he proceeded to fire off a number of bullets ‘one after another’, adding: ‘When we heard it, most people just dropped to the floor and like kind of crawled in an area like piled on top of each other.’

Sayarath said her friend was in the next classroom and witnessed someone being shot, which left him ‘shaken up’. ‘He saw somebody get shot. He had blood on him. He was kinda limping. He looked horrified,’ she added.