Georgia High School suspected shooter’s father has been accused of permitting his son to possess a weapon. This information was revealed by authorities on Thursday following the man’s arrest. The teenager suspected of carrying out a shooting at a high school in Georgia resulted in four deaths and nine injuries
Colin Gray, 54, the father of Colt Gray, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to a social media announcement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Georgia High School suspected shooter’s father allowed his son to possess weapon
GBI Director Chris Hosey stated during an evening news conference that the charges against Mr. Gray were a result of his knowing allowance of his son Colt to possess a weapon. Hosey emphasized that these charges are directly related to the actions of his son and the fact that Mr. Gray allowed him access to a weapon.
The 14-year-old Colt Gray has been charged as an adult with murder for the shootings that occurred on Wednesday at Apalachee High School near Atlanta. Arrest warrants acquired by the AP allege that he used a semiautomatic assault-style rifle in the attack, which resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers, and injuries to nine others.
Read More: Georgia High School Shooting: Suspect Charged With Four Felony Murder Counts
Charge carries a prison sentence of 10 to 30 years
In Georgia, second-degree murder involves causing the death of another person while committing second-degree cruelty to children, regardless of intent. This charge carries a prison sentence of 10 to 30 years, whereas malice murder and felony murder are punishable by a minimum of life in prison.
The teen reportedly denied making threats about a school shooting when interviewed by authorities last year concerning a menacing social media post, as noted in a sheriff’s report obtained on Thursday.
Conflicting evidence regarding the origin of the post prevented investigators from making any arrests, according to the report. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum reviewed the report from May 2023 and concluded that there was no basis for filing charges at that time.
Sheriff Mangum commented to The Associated Press that her department had not failed in their duties, stating that they had done everything possible with the information available at the time.
Teen frequently handling firearms
During an interview last year, when a sheriff’s investigator from Jackson County questioned Gray, his father mentioned that the boy had been dealing with his parents’ separation and was often bullied at school. The teen was described as frequently handling firearms and hunting with his father, who had taken photographs of him with a deer’s blood on his cheeks.
Colin Gray explained that his son understood the seriousness of weapons, how to use them responsibly, and their potential impact, according to a transcript from the sheriff’s office.
The teen was interviewed following a tip from the FBI indicating that Colt Gray, then 13, might have threatened to carry out a school shooting. The threat was reportedly made on Discord, a social media platform popular with gamers, as noted in the sheriff’s office incident report.
Shooting part of a troubling trend of US school shootings
The FBI’s tip referenced a Discord account linked to an email address associated with Colt Gray. However, the boy claimed he would never make such a statement, even as a joke, according to the investigator’s report.
The transcript of the interview included a statement from the teen expressing a promise never to say such things, although the rest of his denial was inaudible.
The investigator mentioned that no arrests were made due to “inconsistent information” regarding the Discord account, which featured Russian profile information and a digital trail indicating access from various Georgia cities and Buffalo, New York.
This shooting is part of a troubling trend of school shootings in the U.S. in recent years, following high-profile incidents in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. These tragedies have sparked intense debates about gun control and have heightened anxieties among parents whose children regularly participate in active-shooter drills, yet national gun laws have seen little change.
