Apalachee ‘shooter’ Colt Gray’s dad Colin charged with murder over ‘son’s rampage that killed four & left nine injured’
The suspected shooter's father reportedly gifted him a gun after the FBI interviewed him a year earlier about school shooting threats
THE dad of the suspected Georgia school shooter has been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly buying his son an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas.
Colin Gray was hit with a slew of charges – just a day after his son, Colt, 14, allegedly killed four people and injured nine others in a massacre that rocked Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
Gray’s dad Colin, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children on Thursday.
His mug shot was released by the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office after the 8 pm press conference.
The father told investigators that he purchased the gun allegedly used in the shooting as a Christmas gift for his son last December, two law enforcement sources told .
What we know so far…
- Four people are dead, and nine others were injured, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations confirmed.
- Students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie were identified as those killed.
- 14-year-old student Colt Gray was named as the suspected shooter.
- Gray and his dad were interviewed by the FBI a year before after authorities received online threats of a possible school shooting.
- A classmate said Gray was blocked from entering a classroom by a student who spotted his gun.
- Students gathered on the football field after the attack.
- and were briefed.
- Devastating texts revealed student’s fear.
The source added the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store.
Under state law, he could get between 10 and 30 years in prison for the second-degree murder charges and second-degree cruelty to children charges.
Meanwhile, malice murder and felony murder come with a minimum sentence of life.
Georgia authorities told reporters the parent “knowingly” let his son possess a weapon.
“We take incidents like this very seriously across the state,” Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said during a press conference
Hosey added that the teenager has been charged with four counts of felony murder and he will be tried as an adult.
Gray is accused of opening fire at his high school in Barrow County, Georgia, as classes took place on Wednesday morning.
He was arrested on Wednesday and has allegedly confessed to the crime telling cops “I did it,” while being read his rights, the reported.
Teachers Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, were killed in the horror attack.
Nine others were injured and they are all “expected to make a full recovery.”
Seven out of nine of the victims have already been released from the hospital, Hosey confirmed.
The GBI concluded the press conference by reiterating the investigation remains fluid.
ONGOING INVESTIGATION
Authorities found that the teen’s father purchased the gun allegedly used in the shooting as a Christmas gift for Gray just months after the FBI first investigated his son for school shooting threats.
The FBI announced on Wednesday they had interviewed Gray and his father in May 2023 after receiving “several anonymous tips about threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.”
“The online threats contained photographs of guns,” a from the FBI Atlanta and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office read.
Just hours later, the FBI had traced the Discord posts back to Georgia and in an interview, Gray claimed his account had been hacked as he denied making the posts.
Family members have since revealed to that the teen had a “troubled life.”
“My grandson did what he did because of the environment that he lived in,” his grandfather, Charles Polhamus said.
“The adults in his life let him down,” his aunt, Annie Brown, added.
Brown explained that her nephew was “actively seeking help” for his mental health, but didn’t find the support he needed from those around him.
FBI INTERACTION
When the FBI questioned Gray’s father on the posts his son allegedly made on Discord, he said he didn’t know what the messaging app was.
“Colin stated he does not know what Discord is, stating that he works full time and does not play video games,” investigators wrote.
When authorities quizzed Gray’s father, he admitted he kept hunting guns in his home but his son was only allowed access under adult supervision.
They urged the father to “keep his firearms locked up” and asked him to keep Gray away from school until his mental health improved.
At the time of the interview, the FBI determined there wasn’t enough evidence for an arrest.
Cops have since refuted claims that they “dropped the ball” when it came to the teenager and his father, according to .
“[We did] all we could do with what we had at the time,” law enforcement said, per the report.
HISTORIC ARREST
Arresting parents of school shooters has been a long-debated topic among legal scholars and policymakers.
James, 47, and Jennifer, 46, Crumbley became the first parents to be charged in their child’s mass shooting earlier this year.
The couple was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison in April after their son, Ethan, opened fire at Oxford High School in Detroit, Michigan.
They were found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each victim their son killed.
Judge Cheryl Matthews said James and Jennifer ignored red flags that a “reasonable person” would’ve seen.
Parents and family members testified at the hearing for the prosecution.
The Crumbleys’ sentencing and Colin Gray’s arrest mark a precedent in legal policy for punishing the parents of mass shooting suspects.
GEORGIA’S DEADLIEST SCHOOL SHOOTING
The events that occurred on Wednesday morning in Barrow County marked the deadliest school shooting in Georgia.
It’s also the deadliest shooting at a US school in 2024.
The tragedy began at the start of the school day when reports of an active shooter came in.
Students attempted to block their classrooms and authorities arrived on the scene by 10:30 am.
Gray’s classmate Lyela Sayara told that she was sitting next to him in algebra class when he left the room around 9:45 am.
When he returned, staff had already received emails about a gunman on campus.
Not knowing the danger, a student who saw Gray return to their classroom about 30 minutes after he left went to open the door to let him in before allegedly spotting the firearm.
When Gray realized he was not going to be let in, he allegedly entered the classroom next door, Sayara said.
“He turned to the classroom that would have been to my right, and he just starts to shoot, and you hear about 10 to 15 rounds back-to-back,” she told CNN.
Meanwhile, the students all piled on top of each other and hid behind their desks for safety.
The school was put on lockdown and students were evacuated to the football stadium.
Barrow County Sheriff Judd Smith said Gray “gave up and got on the ground,” once authorities surrounded him.
“I never imagined I would be speaking to the media in my career over something that happened today,” Smith said at a press conference after the shooting.
“Pure evil happened today. This hits home for me. I was born and raised here. I went to school in this school system.
“My kids go to this school system… My heart hurts for these kids. My heart hurts for this community.
“But I want to make it very clear that hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Law will prevail over what happened today.”
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing and has been described as “fluid” as cops continue to look for a motive.
Gray’s father is being held at the Barrow County Detention Center and was booked into jail on Thursday night.
His son is at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center and is due in court on Friday morning.
