Father of US school shooting suspect charged with murder after allowing son to possess weapon

Father and son, Colt Gray, 14, and Colin Gray, 54, have been will be charged with murder. Credit: CNN/ Barrow County Sheriff’s Office

The father of the Georgia school shooting suspect has been arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Colin Gray is also accused of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children.

The charges are in relation to allowing his son, Colt Gray, to possess a weapon.Two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with maths teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, were killed at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday morning.

Richard Aspinwall, Christina Irimie, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were all victims of the school shooting. Credit: CNN

Colt Gray has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder after investigators said he fired an AR-15-style rifle at the school.

At least nine others, including eight students and one teacher, were taken to hospital with injuries - seven of them were shot but are all expected to survive, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) director, Chris Hosey said.

Colt will remain in detention after appearing at the Barrow County courthouse on Friday, similarly, his father remains jailed without bail.

The maximum penalty Colt will face is a life sentence without parole.

Colt Gray sits in the Barrow County courthouse during his first court appearance. Credit: AP

In May 2023, Colt was interviewed by law enforcement after receiving anonymous tips about online threats to carry out a school shooting, FBI Atlanta said.

The FBI narrowed the threats down and the sheriff’s office interviewed the then-13-year-old and Colin Gray, who said there were hunting guns in the house but the teen did not have unsupervised access to them. The teen denied making any online threats.

Local schools were alerted for monitoring, but there was no probable cause for arrest or further action, the FBI said.

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How can a parent be convicted for a shooting their child is accused of committing?

Prosecutors can hold parents responsible for their children's actions in school shootings, often under state laws.

A key reason for prosecution is if a parent fails to secure a firearm properly, and their child uses it in a shooting, the parent may face charges related to the crime.

In April, Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a US mass school shooting.

They were found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home, and ignoring their 15-year-old son's mental health needs before he killed four students in 2021.

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