By Rich McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) – A grand jury indicted a 14-year-old alleged shooter and his father who bought him the gun on Thursday in the September slaying of two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school, affirming initial charges brought by prosecutors and adding numerous other criminal counts.
The Barrow County grand jury indicted Colt Gray on a total of 55 counts, including four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, plus aggravated assault and cruelty to children. Grand jurors indicted his father, Colin Gray, 54, with 29 criminal counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and adding reckless conduct to prosecutors’ initial charges.
In bringing second-degree murder charges against the father of the accused gunman, prosecutors are using an emerging legal approach that was successful once before in the United States as the country grapples with school shootings.
The Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, a city of 18,000 some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Atlanta also wounded nine people.
Neither attorney Jimmy D. Berry who represents Colin Gray, nor attorney Alfonso Kraft Jr., who represents Colt Gray responded to calls seeking comment.
Colin Gray earlier pleaded not guilty to initial charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He faces up to 180 years in prison on those charges.
Colt Gray, a 9th grade student at the school, was earlier charged as an adult with four counts of murder and has not yet entered a plea. He faces life in prison.
Colt Gray brought an AR-15-style rifle to school in his backpack, hiding the rifle barrel with a roll of poster board, prosecutors said.
In a similar case in April, the mother and father of a Michigan teen who shot and killed four classmates in 2021 were each sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison. They are the first parents known to be charged with manslaughter in a school shooting carried out by one of their children.
Michigan prosecutors had argued the parents were criminally negligent for giving their child a 9mm semi-automatic pistol as a Christmas present and for ignoring signs his mental health had deteriorated and that he was potentially violent.
In Georgia, prosecutors say Colin Gray legally bought his son the rifle as a Christmas present and later at his son’s request bought him large capacity ammunition magazines.
Last May, the two were interviewed by sheriff’s deputies in connection with online threats about carrying out a school shooting, investigators said. Both said they did not make the threats and the case was closed.
Both are held without bond and are scheduled for an arraignment on the indictments on Nov. 21 when they may enter pleas.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot)
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