A 14-year-old boy killed four people at his high school on Wednesday. He was arrested for murder and his father for manslaughter.
On Wednesday, a shooting erupted at Apalachee High School in the town of Winder, Georgia, US. A 14-year-old student at the school, Colt Gray, killed four people, two students and two math teachers. Nine other victims had to be hospitalized but are said to be out of danger. The suspected shooter had left the classroom at the start of class. When he returned, he knocked on the door to get in, but a student held the door shut. The shooter then opened fire in the neighboring classroom.
Colt Gray was arrested and booked on murder charges. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. During the attack, he was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and according to CNNit was allegedly a gift from his father a few months ago. On Thursday, his father was then charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. “This charge stems from the fact that Mr. Gray knowingly allowed his son Colt to possess a firearm,” Georgia State Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference.
Joe Biden reacted to this new element and questioned the responsibility of parents: “How can you have an assault rifle at home, not locked up and know that your child knows where it is?” the American president asked himself this Thursday. If the father is convicted, it will not be a first. Last April, the parents of a teenager who killed four students in Michigan were sentenced to ten to fifteen years in prison.
A difficult family context
According to the testimony of a former neighbor to the New York Postthe teenager grew up in a “broken and neglectful” home, monitored by child services. His mother reportedly has a significant criminal record, including involvement in drug trafficking. Colt Gray also reportedly suffered a very conflictual separation between his parents with a custody battle, ultimately won by his father. According to Gray’s maternal grandfather, with CNNhis father, for his part, was allegedly verbally violent towards his family.
Law enforcement is now investigating the shooter’s motive, as the teen and his father are not unknown to authorities. According to preliminary information, they were previously questioned last year for “multiple anonymous tips regarding online threats to commit a school shooting at an undisclosed location and time,” the Atlanta FBI and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office reported in a statement. CNNThe young man had denied making such threats. His father, for his part, had assured that he had hunting weapons, but that his son did not have access to them without supervision. He had also added that his child “was being harassed at school”. Although there was, at the time, no valid reason to make an arrest, the local authorities had been warned to keep a close eye on the teenager.