Father of Georgia high school shooting suspect charged with murder, child cruelty

imagine the Heartbreak of losing loved ones in a place meant to be safe this is the story of a tragic high school shooting that left a community shattered and a father facing serious charges the father of the suspected shooter who opened fire at a Georgia high school killing two teachers and two students was charged Thursday in connection with the attack marking the latest case of authorities holding parents accountable for their children's violent actions Winkler told USA Today earlier Thursday before the charges were announced that based on law enforcements visit with both Colin and Colt gray last year there is some evidence that the shooting suspect's parents potentially knew the danger he posed and may have been negligent in allowing him access to weapons Colin Gray 54 the father of Colt gray was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter two counts of second deegree murder and eight counts of Cruelty to Children according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation authorities said cold gry 14 was armed with an an AR platform style weapon when he carried out the deadly shooting at appalachi high school on Wednesday these charges stem from Mr Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon gbi director Chris hosy said at a news conference Thursday night his charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon Mason shermerhorn and Christian Angulo both both 14 and Math teachers Richard aspenwall 39 and Christina yamy 53 were fatally shot eight other students and one teacher were injured Colt gray faces four counts of felony murder and additional charges are expected the gbi said earlier Thursday Colin Gray's charges follow the conviction earlier this year of the parents of a 15-year-old who killed four of his classmates in a shooting at HIS Michigan High School the parents Jen ER and James Crumbley each received 10 to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter they had bought their son Ethan the weapon used in the shooting and ignored signs he would commit violence prosecutors said the charges on Thursday come after the Federal Bureau of Investigations revealed that the agency received tips about online threats last year involving Colt gray local authorities interviewed the teen and his father who said he had hunting guns in the house but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them at that time there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local state or federal levels the FBI said Wednesday in a post on X formerly Twitter while it is rare for parents or Guardians to be charged in cases involving gun violence by minors legal experts have told USA Today that the successful outcome of previous prosecutions could encourage other prosecutors to pursue similar cases the the crumley's conviction sends a signal to prosecutors that you can think seriously about Prosecuting parents that it's not a dead end said Adam Winkler a law professor at UCLA and an expert on gun policy other attempts to hold parents and Guardians responsible for the violent actions of children in their care include a man charged with killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park Illinois in 2022 his father pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanors last year in December 2023 the mother of a 6-year-old boy in Virginia was sentenced to 2 years in prison for felony child neglect after her son shot his first grade teacher the school's assistant principal was also charged with eight counts of felony child abuse and disregard for life for ignoring multiple warnings of the child's violent Behavior Colin Gray urged to keep his Firearms locked away according to a report of the May 2023 visit Colin Gray told sheriff's deputies he owned hunting rifles that were not accessible to Colt gray I urged Colin to keep his Firearms locked away wrote Daniel Miller Jr Le investigator that warning helps show that the parent was unnotice Winkler said