The father of the teenager who allegedly killed four people at his Georgia high school in 2024 is to go on trial on murder and manslaughter charges Monday in the latest case to test the limits of who is responsible for a school shooting.
Colin Gray, Colt Gray’s father, has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Opening statements are set for Monday morning, followed by witness testimony. The state has indicated it plans to seek testimony from Gray’s family members, survivors of the shooting and behavioral health experts. The trial is expected to last about three weeks.
The case stems from the shooting at Apalachee High School in September 2024, when then-14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly used an AR15-style rifle to kill two students and two teachers and wound nine others. He ultimately surrendered to police and admitted to the shooting, according to authorities.
More than a year earlier, law enforcement had questioned the teenager and his father about “online threats to carry out a school shooting,” although no charges were filed, authorities said. Even so, Colin Gray bought a gun for his son as a Christmas present in December 2023 – the same gun he used in the mass shooting, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
The indictment alleges that Gray allowed his teenage son access to a firearm and ammunition after receiving “sufficient warning” that his son would harm and endanger others, actions that constitute “criminal negligence” by “knowingly disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”
The trial is part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers.
This case bears close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then 15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan. Crumbley’s parents were each convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Their son was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Colin Gray has remained behind bars since his arrest a day after the shooting. If convicted, he faces 10 to 30 years in prison on each count of murder and 1 to 10 years on each count of manslaughter.
Colt Gray, now 16, has been charged with 55 felony counts, including four counts of malicious murder, according to court documents. He has pleaded not guilty, although a defense lawyer last year raised the possibility that he might change his plea. A trial date has not yet been set.
What happened in the shooting
The mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, happened on the morning of September 4, 2024.
Colt left algebra class at 9:45 am, and gunshots soon rang out in a nearby classroom, a student told CNN at the time. The gun was hidden in his backpack, authorities said.
The first report of an active shooter came in around 10:20 am, authorities said.
“I heard gunshots outside my classroom and people screaming, people begging not to shoot,” said Macey Right, a student at the time, who was 14 years old. “And then the people sitting next to me (were) just shaking and crying.”
Law enforcement and first responders control traffic after a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4, 2024. – Christian Monterrosa/AFP/Getty Images
A resource officer confronted the shooter, who immediately surrendered and was taken into custody, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said. The suspect told investigators, “I did it,” while being questioned, according to Smith.
Investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation allege the firearm used in the attack was purchased by his father despite previous law enforcement concerns about the teenager.
Colt Gray was questioned by law enforcement in May 2023 about “several anonymous tips about online threats to carry out a school shooting at an unspecified time and place,” according to a joint statement from the Atlanta FBI and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. The online threats included pictures of guns, according to the statement.
Colt Gray denied making the threats online, the statement said. Jackson County advised local schools to continue monitoring the matter, but law enforcement did not have probable cause to make an arrest or take other actions, according to the statement.
Colin Gray told officers he had guns in the house and his son had access to them, a video of the interview shows.
“We do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year,” he said. “I’m trying to teach him about guns and safety and how to do it all and get him interested in the outdoors.”
CNN’s Devon M. Sayers, Isabel Rosales and Chris Youd contributed to this report.
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