Georgia high school shooting suspect to make first court appearance as father faces 2nd-degree murder charges
CNN
A school year’s deadly start in a small north Georgia city has left a community “heartbroken” on Friday after a 14-year-old suspected mass shooter and his father were charged in connection with the rampage that left two students and two teachers dead this week, authorities said.
A school year’s deadly start in a small north Georgia city has left a community “heartbroken” on Friday after a 14-year-old mass shooting suspect and his father were charged in connection with the rampage that left two students and two teachers dead this week, authorities said. Colt Gray, a student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, is charged with four counts of felony murder after investigators say he fired an AR-style rifle on campus on Wednesday morning, killing four people, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Nine others were injured, all but two of whom were shot, the GBI said. “A young person brought a gun into a school and committed an evil act and he took lives and he injured many other people — not only physically but mentally,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a news conference Thursday night. Meanwhile, authorities have taken steps to hold the teenager’s father, Colin Gray, 54, accountable after charging him Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said. CNN is working to determine whether Colt Gray and Colin Gray have legal representation. When reached by phone on Thursday, the Barrow County Public Defender’s Office could not confirm if they were representing Colt Gray and had no comment. CNN has made several attempts to reach Colin Gray by phone and in person at the family home. “These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said at Thursday’s news conference.
On the morning of the shooting at a Winder, Georgia high school that left four people dead, authorities were “actively looking” for the teenage suspect after the school received a warning call from his mom – but they weren’t able to get to him fast enough because of an identification issue, authorities said.