Colt Gray left his algebra class at approximately 9:45 AM. He returned near the end of the class and tried to get back in, but the door was locked. When he knocked, the teacher told the students to open it. However, students near the door refused to do so because they saw Gray pull a weapon out of the bag he was carrying. Unable to enter the classroom, Gray turned and went to the next classroom, and the shooting started just seconds later.

The Importance of Locked Doors

If you keep your classroom door closed and locked, you have nearly a 100% chance that violence will not enter your classroom. While I can't say it's absolutely foolproof—since not every detail of school attacks is shared—I do not know of a single attacker in the last 25 years who has successfully fought their way through a locked door. This simply does not happen. When classroom doors are unlocked, attackers may push their way in, but they don’t fight their way through locked doors.

They are not looking for a fight; they are looking for victims.

Gray was not looking for a confrontation. If he had been, he could have easily engaged with the two School Resource Officers (SROs) at Apalachee High School. Instead, he went straight to a classroom, and when he was engaged by the officers later, he immediately surrendered. 

Gray was not looking for a fight—he was looking for victims.

A Call to Action

School attacks are essentially a fight for the classroom. We must keep attackers out, and we can achieve this by always keeping our classroom doors locked. Without a doubt, the safest way to teach is with the door closed and the handle locked. I understand that some schools may lack air conditioning or face other challenges that make this difficult. If you must deviate from this proven violence prevention strategy (interior access control), try your best to speed up your ability to lockdown your classroom.

After school or early in the morning, practice rushing to your door and closing it. Clear any obstructions that may hinder your ability to do this in 7 seconds or less. That should be our goal—7 seconds or less!

Historical Context

FBI and law enforcement officials confirmed that Gray had been investigated in May 2023 for making online threats on the gaming chat app Discord. His profile name was in Russian, and when translated, it matched the last name of the Sandy Hook murderer. Most people don’t realize that the Sandy Hook shooter attempted to enter classroom #12 but could not because the door was closed and locked. Rather than fighting his way in, he turned to his right and attacked classroom #10. Inside classroom #12 were at least two adults and fifteen students.

Nearly all school attackers idolize or worship other murderers; this is a commonality among them. It appears that Gray idolized the Sandy Hook shooter. Like him, Gray tried one classroom door, found it locked, and quickly moved to the next one.

The Sandy Hook murders occurred in 2012, so we’ve known for over a decade that school attackers are not looking for a fight, but for victims. If we close and lock our classroom doors, we will save lives.

A closed and locked door saved lives at Apalachee High School. Please, close and lock your door!

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