Jurors are weighing whether a Georgia father should be held accountable after his son was accused of carrying out a school shooting. The jury bega deliberating Tuesday in the trial of Colin Gray. Prosecutors say Gray gave his son a rifle despite warning signs about his mental health. The defense says the teen planned everything in secret. The shooting at Apalachee High School killed two teachers and two 14-year-old students. It also wounded a teacher and eight students. Prosecutors show video they say shows the teen bringing a rifle to school. Gray says he gave his son a rifle as a bonding opportunity.
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a Georgia man whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers in a September 2024 shooting at a high school.
Colin Gray is charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. The case is one of several around the country where prosecutors have charged parents whose children are accused in fatal shootings.
Killed in the shooting were 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Another teacher and eight other students were wounded.
Prosecutors said Colin Gray gave his son a gun despite multiple signs that the teen's mental state was deteriorating. A defense attorney argued that it was Colt Gray who carried out the shooting and should be held accountable, and that the teen made plans in secret without his father's knowledge.
Colt Gray was 14 at the time of the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting. He has pleaded not guilty to 55 counts, including murder, in the four deaths and 25 counts of aggravated assault. His case has not yet been set for trial.
During the father's trial, prosecutors showed surveillance video that they said showed Colt Gray getting on a school bus with a rifle concealed in a backpack.
In the video, he is seen entering the school with the backpack. He walks down several hallways past dozens of students and some employees. He then begins classes, and later that morning spends several minutes in a bathroom moments before the shooting.
In dramatic testimony as the trial opened last month, several students testified in court about being shot during their algebra class. They recounted through tears seeing a classmate in a pool of blood, then seeing blood on their own bodies and fearing they might die.
There was also testimony about what prosecutors describe as a “shrine” to a Florida school shooter that Colt Gray kept on a wall next to his computer at home.
Colin Gray testified in his own defense. he said he gave the rifle to his son for Christmas hoping to bond with the teen while hunting and during trips to the gun range, and that he saw no signs that his son was capable of carrying out a school shooting.
