Father of teenager who opened fire, killing 4 people at US school, arrested

Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

People commemorate the victims of the shooting at Apalachee High School, Georgia, USA. Photo: Reuters

“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a gun,” Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said at a news conference.

Teenager Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult, according to officials.

Both Gray and his father were questioned by local officials in neighboring Jackson County last year in connection with an online threat about carrying out a school shooting, but there was not enough evidence to arrest them, the FBI announced Wednesday.

Georgia and Barrow County investigators said Colt Gray used an “AR-style” semi-automatic weapon to carry out the attack that killed two teachers and two 14-year-old students. It is still unclear how the gunman obtained the weapon.

Investigators have yet to announce a possible motive for the first mass shooting at a U.S. school since the start of the school year. Colt Gray was arrested shortly after the shooting and taken into custody.

The charges against Colin Gray come after the parents of a Michigan high school shooter were convicted in April, believed to be the first time parents have been held legally responsible for their children's actions in a school shooting.

In that case, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who shot and killed four classmates at Oxford High School in 2021, were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter. A jury found them guilty of failing to keep guns safely stored in their home and ignoring warning signs that their son was mentally ill.

Experts and gun safety advocates say the trials are an important step in holding gun-owning parents more accountable for school violence perpetrated by their children. Studies by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security show that in about 75 percent of all school shootings, the perpetrators took their weapons from home.

Cao Phong (according to Reuters)

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