In the Apalachee High Shooting Court Moves Slowly, Fashion Police Move Fast

If you are waiting for dramatic developments in the Apalachee High School shooting case, you will need patience. If you are waiting for commentary about a teenager’s haircut, some national ‘news’ outlets were more than happy to oblige.

Last week, accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, now 15, appeared in Barrow County Superior Court for a status hearing. This was not a trial, and it was not a plea hearing. It was a routine procedural check meant to update the judge on where the case stands.

Gray is now represented by his third defense attorney, who was appointed in mid-October. She told the court the case has been moving slowly because of the sheer volume of discovery that must be reviewed and because a court-ordered medical evaluation has not yet been completed. That evaluation is expected by February and could determine whether the case moves toward trial or a plea. The judge set March 18, 2026, for a calendar call to discuss the next steps.

That is the actual court news.

Gray is charged as an adult with 55 counts, including murder and aggravated assault, for the September 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School that killed teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Another teacher and eight students were wounded.

His father, Colin Gray, is also charged. Prosecutors allege he gave his son the “AR-platform-style weapon” used in the shooting as a Christmas present. He faces 29 felony counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children.

This is where some coverage took a hard turn.

Instead of focusing on those facts, the New York Post and Fox News chose to devote significant attention to Colt Gray’s appearance in court. Readers were informed at length that he looked different from his booking photo, that his hair was slicked back instead of bleached, and that he wore glasses, khakis, and a quarter-zip. The coverage lingered on how clean-cut and preppy he appeared, as if the case had wandered into a lifestyle segment.

Enter the Fashion Police.

Focusing on a defendant’s wardrobe is not an accident. It is an old and reliable distraction. Talking about haircuts is easy. Talking about how a parent allegedly supplied a high-powered rifle to a troubled teenager is not.

So instead of grappling with the fact that a weapon came from inside the home, that law enforcement had prior contact with the family, and that a documented online threat existed before the shooting, the audience is invited to stare at a makeover. It is safer. It avoids uncomfortable questions about adult responsibility and access to firearms.

Hair grows back. Clothes change. None of that matters.

What matters is that four people are dead, multiple others were wounded, and an adult now stands charged with providing the weapon used in the attack. The court system is doing what it does, slowly and methodically, through discovery, evaluations, and procedural hearings.

If you find yourself reading more about a shooter’s outfit than about how he got the rifle, it is worth asking who benefits from that framing.

Because while the Fashion Police are busy critiquing khakis, the real story remains untouched. An adult allegedly handed a killing machine to a child, and people died.

(Sources)

(Other Sources, but Don’t Click on Them)