Colt Gray, 14, and Colin Gray, 54, appeared in a Barrow County, Georgia, courtroom Friday to hear charges against them in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder that left four people dead and nine others wounded and taken to a hospital. Both face charges that could keep them in prison for the rest of their lives. At the two hearings on Friday, father and son were assisted by public defenders who did not ask for them to be released on bail. The judge is keeping them in custody and has scheduled a new hearing for December 4.
The teenager is accused of being the perpetrator of the crime. Although he is a minor, he will be tried as an adult, with the exception that he cannot be sentenced to death, as the judge made clear after an initial error. Gray turned himself in to the police after the shooting, when the officers arrived at the school, and admitted during a police interview that he was the perpetrator. Colin Gray, his father, was arrested on Thursday accused of knowingly allowing his son access to the semi-automatic rifle with which he opened fire on Wednesday at the school.
The fatalities in the shooting were Christian Angulo, a 14-year-old Latino student of Mexican immigrant descent; Mason Schermerhorn, an African-American student of the same age; and math teachers Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39. Nine other people were injured. Alarms and automatic classroom locks may have prevented a greater tragedy.
The accused student appeared in court dressed in a dark green T-shirt and khaki trousers. He was handcuffed and shackled at the ankles. His thick blond hair barely allowed his face to be seen. Some of the victims’ relatives were present in the courtroom, sitting in the front row. The judge read him his rights and the charges against him. The motive for the crime remains unknown. Colt’s parents were separated and the teenager lived with his father, who was a keen hunter. The son frequently shot guns and hunted with his father, who once photographed him with the blood of a deer on his cheeks.
An FBI investigation — which followed threats posted on the social network Discord, popular with video gamers, about committing a school shooting and accompanied by photos of guns — led to Colt Gray’s home last year. After questioning him and his father, police found no grounds to arrest him. The boy denied making the threats, and the evidence against him was inconclusive.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
Colin Gray appeared at the hearing in a gray-and-white striped prison uniform. He faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. According to the Criminal Code of Georgia, A person commits the crime of second-degree murder when, by committing acts of cruelty to children in the second degree (without intent), he or she causes the death of another human being, regardless of intent. Involuntary manslaughter means that someone unintentionally causes the death of another person.
The judge has read the charges against him and explained the penalties they carry. He could be sentenced to life in prison, although it is less likely that in his case the sentence will go that far.
US authorities have decided to pursue parents of minors who commit shootings with weapons left within their reach, as demonstrated by the groundbreaking sentences against the parents of a Michigan boy. Jennifer and James Crumbley, parents of Ethan Crumbley, were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to secure a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.
The Georgia high school shooting is the 30th mass murder in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today in collaboration with Northeastern University. At least 127 people have died in such killings, which are defined as events in which four or more people are killed within a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
Follow all the international information at Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
#Judge #Georgia #shooting #suspect #father #custody
