Updated Sep 5, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Father of Georgia school shooting suspect charged with 2nd-degree murder

A memorial of flowers and balloons grows in front of Apalachee High School on September 5, 2024 in Winder, Georgia. Two students and two teachers were shot and killed at the school on September 4, and a 14-year-old suspect, who is a student at the school, is in custody. — A makeshift memorial in front of Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Thursday for the victims of the mass shooting a day earlier. Photo: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

The father of the 14-year-old Apalachee High School student arrested in connection with a massacre that killed four people and injured nine others has been arrested, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday.

The big picture: Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, per a GBI post to X.

The charges against Colin Gray, who was arrested Wednesday and remains in custody, stem from him "knowingly allowing" his son Colt Gray to possess a weapon, Chris Hosey, the GBI director, said at a news conference Thursday evening.
The charges are "directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon," Hosey said.

What we're watching: All nine people who were injured are expected to make a full recovery, officials said Thursday.

Context: Colt Gray, who will be tried as an adult, is charged with four counts of felony murder.

He is accused of using an "AR-platform-style weapon" to kill Apalachee High School students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teachers Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, who was also an assistant football coach, Hosey previously said.
Sheriff's deputies visited the family's home last year to interview the father and son after a tip regarding an online threat allegedly made by the then-13-year-old.
Colin Gray allegedly told a deputy during the visit that he had hunting rifles in the home but his son was only allowed to use them under supervision, according to an incident report the Jackson County Sheriff's Office shared with Axios Atlanta.

Zoom out: The arrest of Colin Gray comes months after James and Jennifer Crumbley became the first parents in the U.S. to be held criminally responsible for a mass shooting committed by their child.

The Michigan couple was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison after they were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after their son killed four students and wounded seven others in a 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in Oakland County.

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Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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Father of Georgia school shooting suspect charged with 2nd-degree murder

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