Colin Gray, father of Apalachee HS shooting suspect, found guilty

ATLANTA – A Barrow County jury on Tuesday found Colin Gray guilty on all counts in connection with the 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School.

What we know:

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before returning a unanimous verdict. Gray, 55, now faces up to 180 years in prison. Sentencing was deferred.

Prosecutors charged Gray with 29 felony counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. They argued he enabled access to the AR-15-style rifle authorities say his 14-year-old son, Colt Gray, used in the Sept. 4, 2024 attack.

Investigators said the teen opened fire inside the school near Winder, killing teachers Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Nine others were injured before the shooter was taken into custody.

Sobbing could be heard in the courtroom as the verdict was read. Gray appeared to be mostly emotionless as the long list of verdicts were read. At the end of the reading, he stood up behind the defense table and was placed in handcuffs. 

What they’re saying:

During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors told jurors the shooting lasted 41 seconds but left lasting devastation.

“For 41 seconds. Those 41 seconds forever altered the lives of the students of Apalachee High School, their parents, and everyone in this community,” prosecutors said. “But his father, Colin, the man he lived with, bears responsibility, too, for the murder of Mason Schermerhorn, Christian Angulo, Cristina Irimie, and Richard Aspinwall at Apalachee High School.”

Prosecutors replayed body camera footage and cited text messages they said showed Gray was aware his son was struggling. They argued he should not have purchased the rifle months earlier as a Christmas gift and pointed to school discipline records, prior threats reported to law enforcement and online searches seeking help for a “troubled teen.”

Defense attorneys contended the state was improperly extending criminal liability to a parent for the actions of his child. They described Gray as a single father managing family turmoil and his son’s behavioral challenges.

“This young man right here. This is the person who went into the high school and shot and killed four people he didn’t even know,” the defense said, referring to Colt Gray.

Gray testified in his own defense, telling jurors he bonded with his son through hunting and target practice and required firearms to remain unloaded.

“He had a healthy respect for weapons,” Gray testified.

Dig deeper:

The case has drawn national attention as one of the rare prosecutions seeking to hold a parent criminally responsible in connection with a school shooting carried out by a child.

The case was among the first in the nation to seek to hold a parent criminally responsible for allegedly enabling a child’s access to a firearm used in a school shooting. In a similar case that went to trial in Michigan, the parents of a school shooter were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to prison.

What’s next:

Sentencing was deferred to a later date to allow families to be in attendance to deliver statements before a sentence is determined.

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