U.S. School Shooting: Colin Gray, 54, faces four charges of involuntary manslaughter, two charges of second-degree murder, and eight charges of child cruelty, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, explained at a news conference that these charges are related to Gray allowing his son Colt to have a weapon despite knowing the risks.
Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult, officials announced. His aunt, Annie Brown, told the Washington Post that Colt had been pleading for help from those around him. She mentioned that he had been struggling with mental health issues before the shooting and criticized the adults around him for failing to support him.
UPDATE #4 – September 5, 2024:
A few notes from our 8 p.m. news conference today:
---Advertisement---Colin Gray was arrested on multiple charges earlier today. He knowingly allowed his son, Colt, to have the weapon.
(1/4) https://t.co/qenBmWBK8A
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) September 6, 2024
Joe Biden Expresses Sorrow On School Shooting Case
US President Joe Biden expressed deep sorrow over the loss of innocent lives, noting that students are learning to duck and cover instead of focusing on reading and writing. “We cannot continue to accept this as normal,” he said in a White House statement.
In Georgia, state and Barrow County investigators revealed that Colt Gray used a semiautomatic rifle to carry out the attack, which resulted in the deaths of two teachers and two 14-year-old students. Investigators have not yet disclosed what might have motivated this first US campus mass shooting of the school year.
Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed in Winder, Georgia.
Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to… pic.twitter.com/ncjrdNxQUT
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 4, 2024
Last year, local officials in nearby Jackson County questioned both Grays about an online threat to commit a school shooting, but there was no reason to arrest them, according to the FBI. During that investigation, the father stated that while he had hunting guns at home, his son did not have unsupervised access to them. The son denied making the online threats.
Colt Gray Held Without Bond, Parents Face Legal Accountability
Jackson County sheriff’s investigators closed the case because they couldn’t link either Gray to the Discord account where the threats were made. Sheriff Janis Mangum explained that the case was reviewed, and since the boy was only 13 at the time, there wasn’t enough evidence to take further action. If they had a judge’s order or charged someone, they would have confiscated any firearms for safekeeping.
The younger Gray was arrested shortly after the shooting and is being held without bond at Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday morning before a Georgia Superior Court judge via video. The charges against Colin Gray follow the April sentencing of the parents of a high school shooter in Michigan, marking the first time parents were held legally accountable for their child’s actions in a school shooting.
