Yahoo TV

STORY: :: The father of the accused Georgia shooter is charged with second-degree murder

:: September 5, 2024

:: Winder, Georgia

:: Chris Hosey, Director, The Georgia Bureau of Investigation

“In coordination with District Attorney Brad Smith, the GBI has arrested Colin Gray, age 54, in connection to the shooting here at Apalachee High School. Colin is Colt Gray's father that was arrested yesterday. He is charged with the following: Four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.”

“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon.”

“The biggest thing, as I mentioned earlier, is that he is in custody at this point in time. His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon.”

Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and would be tried as an adult, officials said.

Both Grays had been questioned by local officials in neighboring Jackson County last year in connection with an online threat to commit a school shooting, but there was no probable cause for their arrest, the FBI said on Wednesday.

In that 2023 probe, the father said he had hunting guns in the house but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them, and the son denied making the threats online, the FBI said.

Georgia state and Barrow County investigators say the younger Gray used an "AR platform style weapon," or semiautomatic rifle, to carry out the attack in which two teachers and two 14-year-old students were killed.

It remained unclear how the shooter obtained the weapon.

Investigators have yet to comment on what may have motivated the first U.S. campus mass shooting since the start of the school year.