The father of the teenager suspected in the Georgia school shooting has been arrested, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Colin Gray, 54, was taken into custody in connection with the shooting at Apalachee High School. His son, Colt Gray, 14, is accused of using an assault-style rifle to fatally shoot two students and two teachers on Wednesday.
Colin Gray faces charges including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to the Bureau of Investigation.
“His charges are directly linked to his son’s actions and for allowing him access to a weapon,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, during a Thursday press briefing.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith described the situation as heartbreaking: “A young person brought a gun into a school, committed an evil act, took lives, and left both physical and mental injuries.”
The younger Gray has been charged as an adult in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and educators Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to Chris Hosey.
At least nine others—seven students and two teachers—were injured and are expected to recover, Sheriff Smith added.
Colin Gray is currently held at the Barrow County Detention Center.
More than a year ago, Colt Gray was questioned by Georgia police following tips about online posts threatening a school shooting. At the time, there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
During that 2023 investigation, the father claimed he kept hunting guns in the house but stated his son had no unsupervised access to them. Colt Gray also denied making the online threats.
Investigators say the teen used an “AR-platform style weapon,” a type of semiautomatic rifle, in the attack, though how he obtained the firearm remains unclear.
Authorities have not yet determined a motive for the shooting, the first mass shooting on a U.S. campus since the school year began.
Jackson County investigators had closed a previous case in 2023, unable to link either Colt or Colin Gray to the Discord account where the threats were made, according to police reports. No court order was sought to confiscate the family’s guns at the time.
“This case was worked, and the boy was 13 at the time, but it wasn’t enough to substantiate,” said Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum. “If we get a judge’s order or charge someone, we take firearms for safekeeping.”
The younger Gray was arrested shortly after the shooting and is being held without bond at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, according to Glenn Allen, communications director for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.
His arraignment is scheduled for Friday morning via video before a Georgia Superior Court judge in Barrow County.
While parents are not typically held criminally liable if their child commits a shooting, recent cases suggest this could be changing. In November 2023, Deja Taylor of Virginia was sentenced to 21 months after her 6-year-old son shot his teacher earlier that year.
Colin Gray’s arrest follows the landmark conviction of the parents of a Michigan student who killed four students in November 2021. Jennifer and James Crumbley were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald, who led the case against the Crumbleys, told CNN, “I didn’t think about the precedent it would set, but I hoped it would make parents think twice.”
“It’s enraging that this could still happen when it’s so easily preventable,” McDonald added.
