WINDER, Georgia — A Georgia jury found the father of alleged school shooter Colt Gray guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, concluding that he bore criminal responsibility for providing the weapon used in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder.
Colin Gray was convicted after prosecutors argued he ignored warning signs about his son’s behavior and gave the teenager access to a semiautomatic rifle later used in the shooting. A jury deliberated for less than two hours before handing down the verdict, and the younger gray still faces charges in the shooting, which killed two students and two teachers and injured others.
Prosecutors said the gun was purchased as a Christmas gift and was not secured. Testimony during the trial detailed what prosecutors described as escalating red flags in the months before the shooting, including violent or abusive behavior, property damage and an apparent fascination with prior school shootings.
“It wasn’t like one parent missed one warning. This was multiple warnings over a lengthy period of time,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith as telling reporters after the verdict. “You just had to do one thing: take that rifle away and this would have been prevented.”
The case is among a small but growing number of prosecutions that seek to hold parents criminally liable in connection with mass shootings carried out by their children, following precedents such as the 2024 convictions of the parents of a high school shooter in Oxford Township, Michigan.
