A grand jury in Georgia has indicted father and son, Colin and Colt Gray, for the mass shooting at Apalachee High School that left four people dead and several others wounded. Colt Gray has been charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole or life with the possibility of parole if convicted. His father, Colin Gray, was arrested for allegedly purchasing the firearm used in the shooting and giving it to his son for Christmas. The shooting resulted in a total of 25 victims.
Colt Gray was indicted on 55 counts including felony murder, malice murder, and aggravated assault, while his father, Colin Gray, was indicted on 29 counts including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless conduct. Both are scheduled for arraignment on November 21. The four victims that Colt Gray is accused of killing were two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, as well as two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irmie. Marcee Gray, the mother of Colt Gray, claimed she warned the school the morning of the attack, and teachers had already noticed red flags.
In a previous interview with ABC News, Marcee Gray said she called the school counselor on the morning of September 4, 2024, the day of the shooting, to warn officials about a concerning message she’d received from her son, Colt Gray. Authorities have said Colin Gray gave Colt access to the semiautomatic AR-15 style rifle used in the shooting. However, it’s not clear how Gray brought the gun to campus or what he did with it in the two hours between school starting at 8:15 a.m. and when shots first rang out. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had also visited the Gray household multiple times and had flagged the 14-year-old as a person of interest leading up to the shooting at Apalachee High School after a May 2023 report of an online threat to shoot up a middle school that Colt Gray, then 13, attended.
Georgia is one of 42 states nationwide that holds parents criminally responsible on behalf of their children, which is reflected in the charges brought against Colin Gray. Authorities had Colt Gray on their radar since 2023 as a possible threat after online remarks. It’s unclear if Barrow County School authorities knew before the shooting about the 2023 interview with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Both Colt and Colin Gray are facing serious charges related to the mass shooting at Apalachee High School with Colt being indicted on a total of 55 counts and his father on 29 counts. The community is still grappling with the tragic event and the questions surrounding how the shooting could have been prevented.
The joint appearance of Colt and Colin Gray in court shed light on the events leading up to the mass shooting at Apalachee High School, including the warning signs that were raised by Marcee Gray, the mother of Colt Gray. The allegations against Colin Gray for providing the firearm used in the shooting have raised questions about parental responsibility in such cases and have drawn attention to the issue of preventing future tragedies. The Barrow County District Attorney detailed the charges brought against the father and son, including felony murder, malice murder, and aggravated assault for Colt Gray, and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless conduct for Colin Gray. The arraignment of both defendants is scheduled for November 21, as the community continues to mourn the loss of four individuals who tragically lost their lives in the shooting at Apalachee High School.
The tragic events at Apalachee High School have sparked conversations about school safety, mental health, and the responsibilities of parents in preventing such incidents. The fact that authorities had flagged Colt Gray as a possible threat since 2023 raises concerns about the effectiveness of measures taken to prevent violence in schools. The claims made by Marcee Gray about her warnings to the school prior to the shooting highlight the importance of communication between parents, students, and school officials in identifying and addressing potential risks. As the legal proceedings against Colt and Colin Gray unfold, the community is left grappling with the aftermath of the mass shooting and seeking to understand how such tragedies can be avoided in the future.
