Current:Home > ScamsFirst court appearance set for Georgia teen accused of killing 4 at his high school -Infinite Profit Zone
First court appearance set for Georgia teen accused of killing 4 at his high school
View
Date:2025-04-16 17:25:25
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — The 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was expected to make his first court appearance Friday, a day after his father was also arrested for allowing his son to possess a weapon.
Colt Gray, who is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, will appear by video from a youth detention facility for the proceedings at the Barrow County courthouse. The hearing will be held two days after authorities said the teen opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, just outside Atlanta.
The teen’s father, Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.
“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said. Colin Gray’s first court appearance has not been set.
Father and son have been charged in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, according to Hosey. Nine other people were injured, seven of them shot.
It’s the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings. In April, Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.
Arrest warrants obtained by the AP accuse Colt Gray of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle in the attack. Authorities have not offered any motive or explained how he obtained the gun and got it into the school.
The teen denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on social media, according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday.
Conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, the report said. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time.
The attack was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The classroom killings have set off fervent debates about gun control but there has been little change to national gun laws.
It was the 30th mass killing in the U.S. so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. At least 127 people have died in those killings, which are defined as events in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
___
Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press journalists Charlotte Kramon, Sharon Johnson, Mike Stewart and Erik Verduzco in Winder; Trenton Daniel and Beatrice Dupuy in New York; Eric Tucker in Washington; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Kate Brumback in Atlanta; and Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed.
veryGood! (19)
Related
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Rita Wilson talks ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,’ surprise ‘phenomenon’ of the original film
- Children in remote Alaska aim for carnival prizes, show off their winnings and launch fireworks
- Trump, DeSantis and other 2024 GOP prospects vie for attention at Iowa-Iowa State football game
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Sharon Osbourne calls Ashton Kutcher rudest celebrity she's met: 'Dastardly little thing'
- Nationals owner Mark Lerner disputes reports about Stephen Strasburg's planned retirement
- How Germany stunned USA in FIBA World Cup semifinals and what's next for the Americans
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Stabbing death of Mississippi inmate appears to be gang-related, official says
Ranking
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Greek ferry crews call a strike over work conditions after the death of a passenger pushed overboard
- Missouri constitutional amendment would ban local gun laws, limit minors’ access to firearms
- IRS targets 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- No, a pound of muscle does not weigh more than a pound of fat. But here's why it appears to.
- GMA's Robin Roberts Marries Amber Laign
- Presidents Obama, Clinton and many others congratulate Coco Gauff on her US Open tennis title
Recommendation
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Moroccan villagers mourn after earthquake brings destruction to their rural mountain home
Jimmy Buffett's new music isn't over yet: 3 songs out now, album due in November
GMA's Robin Roberts Marries Amber Laign
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Nationals owner Mark Lerner disputes reports about Stephen Strasburg's planned retirement
The African Union is joining the G20, a powerful acknowledgement of a continent of 1 billion people
Greece hopes for investment boost after key credit rating upgrade