Father of suspect in Georgia school shooting 'gave his son a gun for Christmas' (2024)

The father of the 14-year-old boy accused of shooting dead four people at a Georgia high school has been arrested.

Colin Gray, dad of ColtGray, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a social media post.

It comes after Colt was was arrested and charged with four counts of felony murder, following the shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning.

Colin is said to have given Colt the semiautomatic assault-style rifle allegedly used in the attack as a Christmas present after buying it at a local gun store, Sky News reports.

If this is the case, the purchase would have happened after police contacted the the Colt family last year about threats made online.

The teenager – a pupil at the school – was interviewed after the sheriff received a tip from the FBI the then 13-year-old ‘had possibly threatened to shoot up a middle school tomorrow’ on Discord, a social media platform popular with video gamers, according to the sheriff’s office incident report.

The teenager denied making the threat conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, according to a sheriff’s report.

When a sheriff’s investigator from neighbouring Jackson County interviewedColtlast year, his father said the boy had struggled with his parents’ separation and often got picked on at school.

‘He knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them,’Colinsaid according to a transcript obtained from the sheriff’s office.

The teenager frequently fired guns and hunted with his father, who took photos of him with a deer’s blood on his cheeks.

Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time.

‘We did not drop the ball at all on this,’ Ms Mangum told The Associated Press in an interview. ‘We did all we could do with what we had at the time.’

The classroom killings have set off debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to active shooter drills. But there has been little change to national gun laws.

Classes were cancelled on Thursday at the high school, although some people came to leave flowers around the flagpole and kneel in the grass with heads bowed.

When the suspect slipped out of maths class on Wednesday, Lyela Sayarath figured her quiet classmate who recently transferred was skipping school again. But he returned later and wanted to return to the room. Some students went to open the locked door but instead backed away.

‘I’m guessing they saw something, but for some reason, they didn’t open the door,” she said.

The teenager opened fire in the hallway, authorities said.

Ms Sayarath said she heard a barrage of 10 to 15 gunshots as pupils fell to the floor and crawled in search of a safe corner to hide.

He has been charged in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.

At least nine other people – eight students and one teacher at the school in Winder – were wounded and taken to hospitals. All were expected to survive, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said.

Colt is being held at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center and his first court appearance is expected today..

His booking photo released by the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office showed him with shoulder length, wavy died hair and wearing a white and blue striped shirt.

Other images of Colt surfaced on Thursday including his 2022 yearbook picture in which he smiled and wore a red Georgia Bulldogs shirt and a necklace.

Here is what is known about the victims:

Christian Angulo, 14, student

Christian was a ‘very good kid and very sweet and so caring’, his oldest sister, Lisette Angulo, wrote in a GoFundMe page for his funeral expenses.

‘He was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected..’ she wrote.

‘We are truly heartbroken.. He really didn’t deserve this.’

The GoFundMe page had raised more than $77,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Mason Schermerhorn, 14, student

Mason was autistic and his family on social media urged anyone who found him amidst the massacre to ‘use a calm voice’ and ‘let him know his mom is looking for him for reassurance’.

His sister after finding out he was killed, thanked social media users who shared his photo.

‘He was the sweetest most loving soul with the biggest smile and will be missed dearly,’ states a GoFundMe page to help his family. The GoFundMe page had raised more than $57,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Mason enjoyed being with his family, going to Walt Disney World, playing video games and telling jokes, The New York Times reported.

Richard Aspinwall, 39, teacher

Aspinwall was a maths teacher at Apalachee and a married dad-of-two.

He ‘lost his life protecting his students’, states a GoFundMe page to support his wife, Shayna Aspinwall, and their two daughters.

‘I would love to raise enough to provide Shayna the opportunity to stay at home with her girls,’ wrote Julie Woodson on the fundraiser. ‘We love the Aspinwalls!’

The GoFundMe page had raised more than $156,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Christina Irimie, 53, teacher

Irimie was also a math teacher at Apalachee and a wife and mother.

‘She dedicated her life to shaping the minds and hearts of students and the community,’ states a GoFundMe page for her funeral expenses.

Irimie was described in a Facebook post as an incredible teacher who was amazing at teaching math.

The GoFundMe page had raised more than $22,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : Man who ‘let 72 men rape’ his wife tried to get granddaughter to pose nude

MORE : Conditions in jails ‘dangerous and frightening’ with system on brink of collapse

MORE : British woman sexually assaulted and robbed after leaving Madrid nightclub

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.