Georgia high school shooting suspect to make first court appearance as father faces second-degree murder charge

A deadly back-to-school season in a small north Georgia town left a community “heartbroken” Friday after a 14-year-old mass shooting suspect and his father were charged in connection with the shooting spree that left two students and two teachers dead this week, authorities said.

Colt Gray, a student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, is charged with four counts of murder after investigators said he fired an AR-style rifle on campus Wednesday morning, killing four people, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Nine other people were injured, all but two by gunshot wounds, the GBI said.

“A young man brought a gun into a school and committed an evil act. He took lives and injured many others, not only physically but mentally,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a news conference Thursday night.

Meanwhile, authorities have taken steps to hold the teen’s father, Colin Gray, 54, accountable after charging him Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child cruelty, the GBI said.

CNN is trying to determine whether Colt Gray and Colin Gray are represented by an attorney. Reached by phone Thursday, the Barrow County Public Defender’s Office could not confirm whether it was representing Colt Gray and declined to comment. CNN has made multiple attempts to reach Colin Gray by phone and in person at the family home.

“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a firearm,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said at Thursday’s news conference.

Wednesday’s mass shooting marked the 45th school shooting of 2024 and the deadliest U.S. school shooting since the March 2023 massacre at Covenant School in Nashville, in which six people died.

Here’s what we know so far:

• A suspected adolescent will be tried as an adult: Colt Gray, who is currently being held in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, is expected to remain there until he turns 17, although his case has been transferred to the adult system, agency spokesman Glenn Allen told CNN Thursday. Under Georgia law, a juvenile between the ages of 13 and 17 who commits a felony is automatically tried as an adult. Gray is expected to make his first court appearance Friday and is cooperating with investigators, authorities said.

• The four killed have been identified: The deadly shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday claimed the lives of two 14-year-old students, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, as well as two teachers, Cristina Irimie, 53, a math teacher, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, an assistant football coach who also taught math. Authorities say Irimie was celebrating her birthday with her students when she was shot, according to a family friend.

• The nine injured are expected to make a full recovery: Of the nine others injured, seven — six students and a teacher — were shot, the GBI said Thursday. The other two — both students — suffered other injuries, the GBI said. All nine people are expected to make full recoveries from their injuries, Smith said Thursday.

• Shooting suspect questioned about online threats from last year: In May 2023, law enforcement interviewed Colt Gray and his father about “online threats to commit a school shooting” that included photos of firearms, according to a joint statement from the Atlanta FBI and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Colt Gray, who was 13 at the time, told investigators during that interview that “someone accused him of threatening to shoot up a school, saying he would never say such a thing, even in jest,” authorities said. Authorities were unable to substantiate the threats, and the investigation was closed, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Other schools have received threats, according to investigators: Apalachee High School received a threatening phone call Wednesday morning, before gunshots rang out on the school campus, warning that shootings were coming at five schools, including Apalachee High School, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. It’s unclear who made the call, and investigators have found no evidence that other schools were targeted, but they are pursuing “any leads regarding possible associates of the shooter involved in this incident,” Hosey said.

• Suspect’s father bought gun involved in shooting as a gift: Before charges against Colin Gray were announced Thursday, two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said he told authorities he had purchased the AR-style rifle used in the Apalachee High School shooting as a holiday gift for his son in December 2023. That would place the purchase of the weapon months after authorities initially contacted Colin Gray and his family while investigating a school shooting threat last year.

Elise Hammond, David Williams, Sara Smart, Dalia Faheid, Zenebou Sylla, Devon Sayers, John Miller, Curt Devine, Casey Tolan, Nick Valencia, Rebekah Riess, David Williams, Dakin Andone, Sharif Paget, Melissa Alonso, Andy Rose, Carroll Alvarado , CNN’s Jaide Timm-Garcia, Shawn Nottingham, Curt Devine, Yahya Abou-Ghazala and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

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