US Dad Arrested After 14YO Charged With School Shooting That Killed Four

The father of a 14-year-old boy charged with the killing of four individuals in a school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia, USA, was arrested on September 5. Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colt has been charged with the murder of two students and two teachers on September 4. At least nine persons were hospitalised with serious wounds.

A Complex Case: 5 Things To Know

Dad charged with 'knowingly' handing weapon to teen

Colin Gray has been arrested for manslaughter after investigators found that he voluntarily gave his son a weapon. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated on X that the 54-year-old has been charged with multiple felonies.

He is charged with the following:

- 4 counts of Involuntary Manslaughter
- 2 counts of Second Degree Murder
- 8 counts of Cruelty to Children

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— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) September 5, 2024

Colt Gray was taken into custody shortly after the shooting and is being held without bond at Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, according to Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice communications director Glenn Allen. His arraignment is set for September 6 before a Georgia Superior Court judge in Barrow County by video call. 

Victims identities

Two teachers and two teenage students were shot dead on September 4. The GBI revealed that the victims were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Richard Aspenwall,  39; and Christina Irimie, 53. The autopsy reports, performed by the GBI Medical Examiner's Office on September 4, are reportedly awaited.

Ignored "signs" for over a year

Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of murder and would reportedly be tried as an adult, the GBI said. According to reports, Colin and Colt Gray were questioned by local authorities in Jackson County in 2023 for a shooting threat posted to social media by the teen. In the 2023 probe, Colin 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 GBI said.

“This case was worked, and at the time the boy was 13, and it wasn’t enough to substantiate,” Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said in an interview. “If we get a judge’s order or we charge somebody, we take firearms for safekeeping.” Speaking to The Washington Post, his aunt, Annie Brown, said that the boy had been suffering from mental illnesses and "had been begging for help from all around him." She lamented, "The adults around him failed him."

Reports of multiple shooters, and other targeted schools are false, clarify investigators

While disinformation spread that another Apalachee HS student, identified as Kolten Gray, was involved in the shooting, the GBI confirmed that these reports were inaccurate. Moreover, the investigators clarified that reports about more schools in the area being targeted were also false. 

The shooter has been identified as Colt Gray, age 14.

There have been reports that Kolten Gray, another student at the school, was involved. These reports are inaccurate.

— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) September 4, 2024

Joe Biden reacts

US President Joe Biden responded to the traumatic incident with an official statement from the White House on X. Condemning the patterns of frequent incidents of gun violence in the country, he wrote, "Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal."

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