Father of 14-Year-Old Georgia School Shooting Suspect Arrested

The father of the teenager charged of fatally shooting four people at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta, Georgia, has been arrested.

Colin Gray, 54, the father of Colt Gray, 14, was charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced in a social media post. During a news conference, Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said Colin knowingly allowed his son to possess a weapon.

The news arrived the same day Colt was charged with 4 counts of felony murder in connection to the shooting at the Georgia high school on Wednesday. Additional charges are expected and the teenager’s first court appearance is scheduled for Friday morning, according to authorities. The suspect will be prosecuted as an adult, Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith previously stated.

The teenage suspect was charged in the deaths of 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey. Nine other people were wounded and transferred to hospitals.

Following the news of the tragic school shooting, the White House released a statement on Wednesday from President Joe Biden, who wrote, “What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart. Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”

The president called on Republicans in Congress to “finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun-safety legislation.”