The shooter in a shooting attack that left four people dead at a school in Georgia was only 14 years old. The father also faces punishment. According to a report, the weapon was a Christmas present.
Washington/Winder – After a fatal gun attack at a school in the US state of Georgia, both the 14-year-old shooter and his father face life imprisonment. Both appeared in court in the city of Winder on Friday. The son is accused of four counts of murder, among other things. Investigators accuse the shooter’s father of allowing his son to possess the murder weapon, even though he knew that he posed a threat to himself and others.
Already last year, anonymous tips about a possible attack
The teenager opened fire at a school in the town of Winder near Atlanta on Wednesday. According to police, two 14-year-old students and two teachers were among the dead. Nine other people were injured in the attack.
The youth is no stranger to the police. According to the FBI, there were already several anonymous tips about a possible attack last year. Specifically, they were online threats that contained photos of weapons and announced a gun attack at a school. The alleged shooter and his father were then questioned. The then 13-year-old denied having threatened an attack.
Serious allegations in court
The 14-year-old was brought before the judge in green prison uniform with handcuffs and leg irons. The judge initially said that his crimes could also be punished with death, but corrected this statement a short time later. According to a decision by the US Supreme Court in 2005, the death penalty is not permissible for minors in the USA. According to CNN, the youth confessed to the crime during an interrogation.
A short time later, the shooter’s father appeared in the courtroom – he seemed distraught and sat restlessly in his chair. He was wearing striped prison uniforms and handcuffs. He is accused of second-degree murder, among other things – a step between murder and manslaughter. It is unclear whether this charge will stand. The 54-year-old is also charged with negligent homicide. Both the 14-year-old and his father will remain in prison until further notice.
Media report: Weapon was apparently a Christmas present from father
US television channel CNN reported, citing police sources, that the boy’s father himself told investigators that he had given his son the weapon – an AR-15 assault rifle – for Christmas last December.
According to investigators, the shooter was a teenager who attended Apalachee High School. A school police officer arrested the 14-year-old. The teenager apparently feared that there might be an exchange of gunfire, lay down on the ground and gave up. The police have not yet released any information about a possible motive.
Parents of a gunman were also recently convicted
The allegations against the shooter’s father are reminiscent of another recent case. In April, parents of a teenager who carried out a massacre at a school were sentenced to prison for the first time in the United States for negligent homicide. The case concerned a teenager who shot and killed four students at a school in the US state of Michigan in 2021. His mother and father were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
It was the first time in the United States that parents of a shooter were convicted of personal responsibility for such a crime. The murder weapon was a gift from the parents to their then 15-year-old son, who used it to commit the murders shortly afterwards.
Gun violence continues to shake the USA
In the USA, fatal shootings are part of everyday life. Firearms are readily available in the USA and are in large circulation. Larger attacks of this kind, for example in schools, supermarkets, nightclubs or at large events, regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws – so far without any success. A substantial tightening of gun laws in the USA has been prevented by Republicans for years.
Democratic President Joe Biden once again called for a ban on assault rifles and stricter regulations on the storage of weapons. He himself is a gun owner and is in favor of the right to own weapons, the 81-year-old said during an appearance in the state of Wisconsin. But the country needs stricter laws. Nobody needs assault rifles for private use, and adults must store their weapons safely without their children having access to them.
For the first time in 2020, firearm injuries were the number one cause of death for children and young people in the USA, ahead of traffic accidents. dpa
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