SAN FRANCISCO — The parent of a teenager suspected of fatally shooting his Georgia classmates is the latest to be charged in connection with a mass shooting.
Colt Gray, 14, and his father, Colin Gray, 54, remain in custody after investigators say the teen committed a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that left four people dead and nine others injured.
The teen is charged with murder. His father also faces charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. The reason? Detectives believe he gave his son the AR-style rifle used in the shooting last year.
“I think it’s absolutely necessary to hold parents more accountable for the actions of their children, especially now that we’re seeing red flags like in this case,” said attorney Katie Charleston.
Charleston is referring to a May 2023 incident when sheriff’s deputies questioned the father and son as part of an investigation into an FBI tip linking the teen to a school shooting.
“What the prosecutors are really looking at is the involvement or lack of involvement or knowledge of what the children are doing and the failure of the parents to make the home a safe place so that the child can’t get their hands on a firearm,” Charleston said. “I’m really curious to see more details about the failure of the authorities and the family to intervene in the life of this child who really seemed to be looking for help and had some issues that were unresolved. There seemed to be red flags there for at least a year. I think this is really a case of a failure of the system to identify a problem that could have been prevented in the first place.”
There is now a new legal precedent for this type of scenario. Earlier this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents to be convicted in a school shooting. In 2021. Their son killed four students at a Michigan school.
“I think historically it was always something that prosecutors considered. But I think the Crumbley case, as it has gone, will give prosecutors and authorities more confidence in seeking that kind of accountability from the parents of children who are involved in these types of crimes,” Charleston said.
