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Summary:
Colt Gray, a 14-year-old, is facing four counts of felony murder. His father, Colin Gray, has been charged with facilitating his son's access to a rifle. This shooting incident has once again sparked the debate over gun control in the United States.
A Georgia teenager charged as an adult with killing four people at his high school appeared in court for the first time on Friday, and his father later appeared before the same judge on charges of enabling his son to obtain the rifle used in the shooting.
Accused Georgia high-school shooter Colt Gray, age 14, made his first appearance in state court today, where he is charged with murder over Wednesday's killing, which left four dead and nine injured.
Gray did not enter a plea before Barrow County Superior Court Judge Currie Mingledorff. He was being held without bond in the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center.
Mingledorff also informed Gray he was "charged with four counts of felony murder, and that if convicted by a jury, he may be sentenced to life in prison. Gray entered court shackled as he sat beside his attorney, answering several of the judge's questions with a nod.
The judge had previously told Gray he could receive the death penalty but quickly recanted, telling the teenager he was not eligible for capital punishment since he is under the age of 18.
About 40 minutes after Mingledorff's son had left the court, Colin Gray, his father, appeared before Mingledorff. His charges include four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Teen suspected in Georgia school shooting, his father appear in court
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| [7/7] A man lays flowers at the site of a makeshift memorial at Apalachee High School the day after a fatal shooting left four dead in Winder, Georgia, U.S. September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo |
The 54-year-old was shackled and wearing a jail striped shirt and pants. He quietly answered a few questions by the judge, and then spent most of the hearing rocking back and forth. The judge said the elder Gray faces up to 180 years in prison.
Authorities in Georgia state and Barrow County said Colt Gray used an "AR platform-style weapon," or semiautomatic rifle, to carry out the attack at Apalachee High School. Two teachers and two 14-year-old students were killed in the assault.
One teacher and eight students were also injured in the attack, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. Of those, the adult and six of the students were shot, the bureau said.
Colt Gray was arrested by two sheriff's deputies assigned to the school just moments after the shooting.
Investigators have yet to comment on what may have motivated the first mass shooting on a U.S. school campus since classes resumed at summer's end.
The shooting in Winder-a city of 18,000 some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta-renewed both the national debate about gun control and the outpouring of grief that follows in a country where such attacks occur with some regularity.
Authorities identified those slain as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39 years old, and Cristina Irimie, 53.