The teen accused in Georgia's high school shooting enrolled 2 weeks late and was often absent

ATLANTA (AP) — The 14-year-old who is accused of killing four people in a Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia started school two weeks late and then was absent for nine more days before the shooting, investigators said Friday.

Colt Gray was first enrolled at the high school northeast of Atlanta on Aug. 14, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. The first day of school was Aug. 1.

The late enrollment, combined with the absenteeism, show that the boy's life may have been troubled. His mother, Marcee Gray, has said she and other relatives on her side of the family sought the school’s assistance the week before the shooting to get psychiatric treatment for her son.

The new information came as Barrow County school officials announced plans for Apalachee High School to reopen beginning the week of Sept. 23. In a joint video with Superintendent Dallas LeDuff, Apalachee Principal Jessica Rehberg promised “a thoughtful, gradual return to school," but said the plans could be adjusted as the system is “prioritizing the well-being and comfort of every student as we move forward together.”

“We are working to make sure we have the right systems and resources in places,” Rehberg said. “We also want to ensure that we have the right mental health support on our campus, spaces for relocated classes, and have thought through every detail of your return, including scheduling, transportation, curriculum, and classroom materials.”

The district's other students restarted school on Tuesday. LeDuff said more than 90% returned.

Colt Gray is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.

Here’s a timeline of what happened before, during and after the attack, based on statements by authorities and reporting by The Associated Press and other news media:

Aug. 1 — School starts in Barrow County.

Aug. 14 — Colt Gray is enrolled at Apalachee High School. Investigators say he was absent for nine additional days before the shooting,

Sept. 4, 8:15 a.m. — First period begins. Officials have not said what class Gray was scheduled for or whether he attended. Officials said he rode the school bus to Apalachee High School carrying a semiautomatic assault rifle hidden in his backpack. Investigators say Gray also had a knife.

Sept. 4, 9:38 a.m. — First period ends. Students have seven minutes to change to their next class.

Sept. 4, 9:45 a.m. — Second period begins. Student Lyela Sayarath said she briefly saw Gray in the algebra class where the two sat next to each other. Investigators say Gray left the classroom asking to go speak to someone in the front office, but instead took his backpack with the gun inside and hid in a bathroom.

Sept. 4, 9:50 a.m. — Marcee Gray, Colt's mother, calls the high school from 200 miles (320 kilometers) away in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to warn that her son was having an “extreme emergency" after getting a text from Colt saying, “I'm sorry.” Marcee Gray said a counselor told her that an email earlier that morning from one of Colt Gray's teachers said he had been talking about school shootings. Marcee Gray said she urged them to find her son to check on him.

Sept. 4, 9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. — An administrator comes to the algebra classroom looking for a student with the same last name and a similar first name to Colt Gray, Sayarath and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said. When the other student returns, he tells Sayarath that the administrator was actually seeking Colt Gray. In the meantime, the teacher is called on the intercom, Sayarath said.

Sept. 4, about 10:20 a.m. — Colt Gray approaches the door of the algebra classroom. As the intercom buzzes again, the teacher responds, “Oh, he’s here,” seeing Gray outside the classroom door, Sayarath said. When students go to open the door, which automatically locks from the inside when closed, Sayarath said they backed away. She said she saw Gray turn away through the window of the door and then she said she heard 10 or 15 consecutive gunshots. People are shot in the hallway and inside at least one classroom, as others in the halls scramble for safety. According to some students, the three teachers who are shot are trying to protect students.

Sept. 4, 10:23 a.m. — After multiple employees press wireless panic buttons embedded in their employee badges, the school goes into lockdown and a massive law enforcement response begins. Students in other classrooms who hear the gunshots begin texting and calling their parents and others.

Sept. 4, 10:26 a.m. — The two school resource officers assigned to Apalachee High School approach Gray in the hall, according to GBI Director Chris Hosey. Gray immediately surrenders and is taken into custody.

Sept. 4, about 11 a.m. — Law enforcement officers begin searching Colin and Colt Gray's house. At the school, officers go from classroom to classroom, first looking for more people with injuries or other shooters. Later, officers evacuate students to the football field as hundreds of parents rush to campus.

Sept. 4, about 1 p.m. — The school begins releasing students to parents to take them home.

Sept. 5 — Colin Gray is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Officials say Colin Gray allowed Colt Gray the access to the assault rifle even though Colin Gray knew his son was a danger to himself or others.

Sept. 6 — Colt and Colin Gray make initial appearances in court in Winder. Neither requests that the judge set bail. Colt Gray remains held in a juvenile detention center, while Colin Gray is in the Barrow County jail.

Sept. 10 — The 13,000 students at the Barrow County school district’s other schools return to class. Officials said the 1,900 students who attend Apalachee would begin returning the week of Sept. 23

Sept. 11 — Lawyers for Colin Gray ask a judge to order that he be kept separate from the other inmates in the Barrow County jail for his safety, citing the “incalculable number” of threats of violence or death against him.

This combo of booking images provided by the Barrow County, Ga., Sheriff's Office shows Colin Gray, left, and his son Colt Gray, who have been charged in relation to the Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, shootings at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. (Barrow County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This combo of images show shooting victims, from left, Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, displayed at a memorial outside Apalachee High School, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)

Students and parents walk off campus at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Police vehicles are seen outside Apalachee High School after a shooting there caused an unknown number of injuries and a suspect was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

An ambulance departs Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Police gather outside Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A medical helicopter is seen in front of Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

People embrace at a makeshift memorial after a shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Linda Carter, of Grayson, Ga., kneels near Apalachee High School to place flowers as she mourns for the slain students and teachers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

TORONTO (AP) — When Pharrell Williams and Morgan Neville decided to embark on a movie about Williams’ life but animated in Lego pieces, they knew there would be culture shocks. But making “Piece by Piece” still led to some places that neither Williams, Neville or Lego could foresee.

“We did have extensive conversations about how wide a back of a bikini bottom would be on a minifig in a ‘Rump Shaker’ video,” says Neville, chuckling. “We had many discussions about things I thought I would never be talking about as a filmmaker.”

“Piece by Piece” did not come with any easy-to-assemble instructions. It’s part music biopic, part documentary, part family film. It is, like many things about Williams’ hit-making life, radiant with uplift, beats and idiosyncrasy.

“Society likes to put us in boxes, pun intended,” Williams says, speaking alongside Neville. “Here was a moment where this guy’s view of my life and the way he saw it strung together was incredibly liberating for me. While I’ve never seen myself in a box, this helps other people now to, as well.”

“Piece by Piece,” which Focus Features releases in theaters Friday, begins, like many documentaries, with the director, Neville, sitting down with a camera crew focused on their subject, Williams. But in this case, Williams — and everything else, including a bearded, bespectacled Neville — are Lego.

“What if we told my life with Legos?” Williams asks in the film. “That’ll never happen,” replies Neville.

What follows is something like a traditional documentary complete with colorful recounting of past struggles and triumphs, from his upbringing in Virginia Beach to his string of chart-topping hits, told through Williams’ voiceover and a number of talking heads. It was recorded that way in interviews, either on camera, Zoom or phone, and then animated into Lego form. Here, finally, is a chance to see Busta Rhymes as a Lego, along with many others, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott.

“The first meeting we had was with Lego because if they had said no, there would have been no film,” says Neville, the director of documentaries including “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Won't You Be My Neighbor” and “Steve!” “To their credit, they not only said yes, but I think understood the kind of growth it would force them into.”

For Lego, the Danish toy company, making “Piece by Piece” was its biggest gamble since stepping into feature films with 2014’s “The Lego Movie.” Neville approached the company’s head of global entertainment, Jill Wilfert with a pitch for what would be Lego’s first foray into a documentary not about itself. Wilfert was immediately responsive.

“The whole idea behind Lego is its endless creativity and limitless possibility, and Pharrell really kind of embodies that,” she says.

As proof of concept, Neville put together a 90-second video of Williams reflecting on his upbringing and the inspiration of artists like Stevie Wonder. (A vinyl of “Songs in the Key of Life” is another one of those things you never expected to see as a Lego.)

“I came away from that saying, ‘This is totally going to work,’” Neville says. “And everybody we showed it to got it. They were like: I want to see this movie.”

Still, Neville and Williams knew the Lego approach would mean working within PG parameters. Some things about Williams’ life — like being young and famous while operating in the upper echelons of pop and hip-hop — wouldn’t fit in a family-friendly movie. Williams says the movie “paraphrases” his life.

“There were definitely some areas that weren’t within my expectations of where we might go,” Wilfert says. “We had a lot of good dialogue throughout the whole process. Morgan and Pharrell, there was mutual respect because we are a brand that people have high expectations of and expect certain things of. So we did work with them on areas that we felt did make sense and didn’t make sense.”

It also pushed Lego in other ways. Williams is particularly proud that the movie led to Lego expanding its available skin tones and hair textures. Williams’ Lego self — which he carried proudly to the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of “Piece by Piece” — was specifically designed to match his own skin tone.

“You name the type of human being, we fought hard for their existence and acknowledgement,” says Williams. “Lego obliged and I think the brand is better because of it.”

One of the movie’s most clever designs is illustrating tracks that Williams crafts himself or in collaboration, like Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” or Pharrell’s own “Happy.” Each is rendered as a unique little glowing set of Legos pieced together.

Other, less happy aspects of Williams’ life don’t make the cut. You won’t see anything about the “Blurred Lines” lawsuit, in which Marvin Gaye’s estate sued for copyright infringement and won. Nor is there anything in the film about Williams’ recent legal squabbles with his Neptunes co-founder Chad Hugo. Earlier this year, Hugo filed a trademark opposition over the duo’s name, claiming Williams’ “fraudulently” sought control of it. Representatives for Williams have disagreed, saying Williams “reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership.”

“Piece By Piece,” though, does include a positive portrayal of Hugo, particularly in Williams’ early days in Virginia Beach, when the two began making music together.

“There’s nothing bittersweet. I’m so grateful for my experiences. Chad is an integral part of the beginning, the genesis of my pursuit in music and being there,” Williams says. “I met him in the second grade in band class, and the memories that we have of making music together, I would not be sitting here if it weren’t for us meeting.”

Williams, who is Men’s Creative Director for Louis Vuitton, is talented when it comes to brand management. He released his debut solo album, “In My Mind,” in 2006 and long ago stepped into the spotlight, himself. But he has, by his own acknowledgement, remained a producer at heart. Not everything about “Piece by Piece” was easy for him.

“A lot of that was vulnerable for me,” Williams says. “I’m, like, crying two times in the story. I hadn’t considered he might ask questions that would trigger emotion. I’m such a produced person. I’ve produced myself so much.”

It’s a sentiment that Neville, as a protean documentarian used to adapting to the style and attitude of his subjects, can relate to.

“Pharrell as a producer is often holding up a mirror to artists to get them to see themselves. My job is to hold up a mirror to him to get him to see himself,” Neville says. “I feel like, in an odd way, we have the same job.”

When Neville interviewed other musicians for the film, he told them that they’d be animated. But he didn’t say how. It was only later they found out they’d be Lego minifigs.

“Everyone was so shocked and so elated,” says Williams. “I feel like it released the inner child in all of them. Some of them look at life that way, anyways. Other ones, even the tough guys, were like, ‘Oh, man, this is so cool.’”

Capturing Williams’ life in a playful, even childlike way will surely help some younger viewers connect to his story. Becoming a world-famous multi-hyphenate might seem out of reach to most, but “Piece by Piece” makes it look, almost, like a snap.

“There’s a universality that Lego brings out,” Neville says. “I feel like this whole film is an experiment in the tension between the specificity of real life and documentary and the imagination and universality of imagination.”

Pharrell Williams poses for a portrait to promote the film "Piece by Piece" during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows the lego character voiced by Snoop Dogg in a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows lego characters voiced by Justin Timberlake, left, and Pharrell Williams in a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

Director Morgan Neville, left, and Pharrell Williams pose for a portrait to promote the film "Piece by Piece" during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows a lego character voiced by Pharrell Williams in a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

Director Morgan Neville poses for a portrait to promote the film "Piece by Piece" during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows lego characters Pharrell Williams, left, and director Morgan Neville in a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

Pharrell Williams, left, and Director Morgan Neville pose for a portrait to promote the film "Piece by Piece" during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

This image released by Focus Features shows lego characters voiced by Jay-Z, left, and Pharrell Williams, in a scene from "Piece By Piece." (Focus Features via AP)

Pharrell Williams poses for a portrait to promote the film "Piece by Piece" during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)