GA - Winder - Apalachee High School school shooting, 4 dead, 9 injured *father and son arrested*

[Megnut]

Question: with new precedent and ostensibly no statute of limitations on murder, might we see a cascade of retroactive charges against parents in otherwise resolved, past school shootings?

Is this how the tide changes once and for all? Whoever provides the grenade...

JMO

 

[Leilei]

I wonder if perhaps the Discord threat (or other threatening statements the shooter made to his father) were specifically directed toward any of the individuals murdered yesterday. I know the shooter is said to be new to this school, but he may have known some of the students if he attended middle school with them. OR perhaps the shooter's father knew he harbored violent thoughts towards specific groups that some of these folks might've fit into (for example, "math teachers"--which both adult victims were--or people of color, which both of the teen students appear to have been). I don't know if that would necessarily make a difference in how those two murders would be charged, though.

This was a brand new school for him, wasn't it? Yesterday was his second day from what has been reported, so he wouldn't have known anyone back when the Discord stuff was being investigated. IMO.

 

[realanastasia]

This is a gift link to the Live Updates page about this school shooting from The New York Times (I am a subscriber). I am sharing this here because I was gobsmacked reading the part that details the interview with the young man and his father regarding the Discord account. I am quoting it here since I have gifted (paid for) this article to be accessible to others. Father of Georgia School Shooting Suspect Arrested and Charged: Live Updates

"The investigator was looking into tips about a post made in a chat group on Discord, a social media site, about a potential school shooting. The post, which had been reported to the F.B.I., was linked by investigators to the account associated with Mr. Gray’s son.

Mr. Gray said in a follow-up phone call with an investigator that he didn’t know much about Discord, and that he had asked his son to “dumb this down for me.” His son had told him about people called “raiders” who could break into other people’s Discord accounts, he said. “They can make it … basically say whatever they want to about you,” Mr. Gray said his son had explained.

The son told the investigator that he had not used Discord in months and was only on TikTok to watch videos. The investigator ended one interview by telling the teenager, who had just finished seventh grade, to focus on getting good grades. “It’ll set you up for the rest of your life,” he said.

In a follow-up phone call with Mr. Gray, an investigator told him he wasn’t sure they would be able to get to the bottom of who had made the post on Discord. He assured the father he didn’t think his son was being dishonest, and encouraged him to make sure his son’s identity had not been stolen. Mr. Gray said his son was eager for the situation to be resolved. “He wants to know what happened,” he told the investigator."

 

[realanastasia]

Is it possible that the father believed Colts story about his discord getting hacked?

Im sure there were other problem behaviors at home that should've told dad this was a bad idea

Yes, see my post with link to NYT article about how the father more or less admitted he knew nothing about Discord and therefore his son was able (IMO) to completely "snow" him with some tale of how "raiders" could easily hack one's Discord account and make all kinds of outrageous claims!

 

[Bounceycat]

Question: with new precedent and ostensibly no statute of limitations on murder, might we see a cascade of retroactive charges against parents in otherwise resolved, past school shootings?

Is this how the tide changes once and for all? Whoever provides the grenade...

JMO

Not unless there are federal charges they can bring.

 

[justtrish]

Question: with new precedent and ostensibly no statute of limitations on murder, might we see a cascade of retroactive charges against parents in otherwise resolved, past school shootings?

Is this how the tide changes once and for all? Whoever provides the grenade...

JMO

I don't think so. I think going forward it's clear that if you had prior knowledge that your child was having troubles and you have weapons that are not secured and there is some connection between the two then you could be charged.

The first case the parents were at the school that day over disturbing pictures he drew and they didn't mention the gun at home and they didn't take him home. Their texts after the fact let LE know that they were thinking about it, but they didn't take any steps to secure the gun or check to see that it was secured nor did they notify the school.

This case now they had the FBI at their house.. I think if that doesn't warn you enough to secure your guns then well I don't know what to say.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Totally understand that confusion! BTW, I was honestly asking because I wondered what I was missing - not trying to tear you down.

All's good!
IMO:
Georgia's AG Carr is most likely diametrically opposed to Michigan's AG Nessel when it comes to firearm regulations and parental responsibilities etc,
I don't even know if a state's AG can override a county's DA if they don't want charges filed against a person?

 

[Betty P]

I wonder if perhaps the Discord threat (or other threatening statements the shooter made to his father) were specifically directed toward any of the individuals murdered yesterday. I know the shooter is said to be new to this school, but he may have known some of the students if he attended middle school with them. OR perhaps the shooter's father knew he harbored violent thoughts towards specific groups that some of these folks might've fit into (for example, "math teachers"--which both adult victims were--or people of color, which both of the teen students appear to have been). I don't know if that would necessarily make a difference in how those two murders would be charged, though.

IDK, there were 4 murders.
The father has been charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, plus 2 counts of second degree murder.
We'll have to wait and see what kind of explanation their prosecutor has.

 

[statt#1]

I used to work in the UK school system primarily with PRU children (kids who have been excluded from mainstream school). Quite a few of these were due to violence - severe threats, bringing knives into school etc

We had a legal duty to pass on any safeguarding or behavioural issues to the next school - I’m amazed that this isn’t the case in the US system.

From afar this case looks like it was preventable as he should’ve already been on peoples radar - he should’ve been being searched each day prior to entering the building and his parents should have had a legal duty to check his bag each morning prior to school.

Records follow a student from state to the state in the U.S. It's part of the transfer/enrollment process.

 

[Betty P]

Question: with new precedent and ostensibly no statute of limitations on murder, might we see a cascade of retroactive charges against parents in otherwise resolved, past school shootings?

Is this how the tide changes once and for all? Whoever provides the grenade...

JMO

It would be nice, but that's probably not going to happen. I'll be surprised if they continue with this recent trend of charging parents.

 

[m00c0w]

IDK, there were 4 murders.
The father has been charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, plus 2 counts of second degree murder.
We'll have to wait and see what kind of explanation their prosecutor has.

You can charge lesser included offenses in Georgia. Two of the involuntary manslaughter charges are lesser included offenses to the two second degree murder charges.

 

[Betty P]

You can charge lesser included offenses in Georgia. Two of the involuntary manslaughter charges are lesser included offenses to the two second degree murder charges.

What is a "lesser included offense"?

 

[vls12345]

BBM

That comment that “all the guns will go away” says it all about Colin Gray’s priorities! Not that his son might have made threats, but that he’d lose his guns if Colt did. I can’t even!

Glad you pointed that out. Because I had originally read the quote like the dad was a responsible adult, meaning he would voluntarily get rid of his own guns if his son had been dumb enough or reckless enough to make threats.

I guess I was being way too optimistic and your post opened my eyes. And now the dad has been charged too.

Imo.

 

[Chimera]

I don't think so. I think going forward it's clear that if you had prior knowledge that your child was having troubles and you have weapons that are not secured and there is some connection between the two then you could be charged.

The first case the parents were at the school that day over disturbing pictures he drew and they didn't mention the gun at home and they didn't take him home. Their texts after the fact let LE know that they were thinking about it, but they didn't take any steps to secure the gun or check to see that it was secured nor did they notify the school.

This case now they had the FBI at their house.. I think if that doesn't warn you enough to secure your guns then well I don't know what to say.

Bbm.
Hmmm.
Arrogance ?
It'd be interesting to be a 'fly on the wall' for the discussions between Colin Gray and his lawyer.
Imo.

 

[MoominMama222]

Yes, see my post with link to NYT article about how the father more or less admitted he knew nothing about Discord and therefore his son was able (IMO) to completely "snow" him with some tale of how "raiders" could easily hack one's Discord account and make all kinds of outrageous claims!

This just blows my mind because it seems like such an obvious thing people who are guilty always say--"I was hacked!" A kid posts threats online and then says it wasn't him, he was hacked and that just...worked? On an FBI officer? What the heck?!

 

[Lilibet]

Father of Georgia school shooting suspect arrested on charges including second-degree murder

The father of the teenager accused of opening fire at a Georgia high school, killing four people and wounding nine, has been arrested on various charges including second-degree murder, authorities said Thursday.

www.nbcdfw.com

“A phone number associated with the account was linked to a different person in another Georgia city, the report said. The account's profile name, written in Russian, translated to Lanza. The investigator noted that Adam Lanza was the perpetrator of the 2012 mass shooting that killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.”
BBM

The other person’s phone number and the account name written in Russian did not eliminate Colt from posting threats on Discord. I don’t fault the FBI for dropping the case as this would be practically impossible to prove.

Spoofing is when someone uses someone else’s number as their own. I guess the FBI couldn’t prove that Colt was “spoofing” the other person’s phone number. My number has been spoofed before. I didn’t try to find out who did it.

Caller ID Spoofing

Caller ID spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Spoofing is often used as part of an attempt to trick someone into giving away valuable personal information so it can be used in fraudulent activity or...

www.fcc.gov

The account’s profile name isn’t actually “translated” to Lanza, and Colt’s father saying he didn’t know Russian (in earlier article) is meaningless. I took Russian and learned the Russian alphabet in college. All Colt would have to do is match each letter in LANZA to the equivalent letter in the Russian alphabet—ЛАНЗА
But again, try proving it.

Russian Alphabet Table - Russian Lesson 1

Russian Alphabet Table. Use this table to help you learn the Russian alphabet. It would also be useful to learn how to say the Russian letters.

www.russianlessons.net

 

[Izzylizzy]

IDK, there were 4 murders.
The father has been charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, plus 2 counts of second degree murder.
We'll have to wait and see what kind of explanation their prosecutor has

WOW!
I'm shocked he was charged so fast.
Damn bitter-sweet.

I wonder if perhaps the Discord threat (or other threatening statements the shooter made to his father) were specifically directed toward any of the individuals murdered yesterday. I know the shooter is said to be new to this school, but he may have known some of the students if he attended middle school with them. OR perhaps the shooter's father knew he harbored violent thoughts towards specific groups that some of these folks might've fit into (for example, "math teachers"--which both adult victims were--or people of color, which both of the teen students appear to have been). I don't know if that would necessarily make a difference in how those two murders would be charged, though.

If the shooter's social media is found to have racist comments he could be looking at state or federal hate charges.

 

[rabidstoat]

I don't think he was targeting people necessarily. He originally tried to get back into his own classroom, so if he was targeting anyone I'd think it would be there. But since the door was locked, he seems to have turned to the first unlocked door he found and started shooting.

 

[vls12345]

GBI Investigates School Shooting in Barrow County

UPDATE #4 - September 5, 2024: A few notes from our 8 p.m. news conference today: Colin Gray was arrested on multiple charges earlier today. He knowingly allowed his son, Colt, to have the weapon. This is a very difficult time for students & parents and many are afraid. You’ve likely seen...

gbi.georgia.gov

 

[statt#1]

It's good that the father is charged. Once again, as is always the case in these school shootings, the murderer has a history. Seriously, FBI??? And mental health issues. And a mom that has her stuff, and the list goes on. I opine this young man has a school file of intervention services offered and/or rendered several inches thick. It's no secret in this case, and it's no secret in all the cases I've followed, of school shootings. LE, counselors, therapists, psychologists, inpatient, outpatient, medication, ad nauseum.

The only way, in my humblest of opinions, being a born and raised U.S. citizen, fully aware of the society in which I reside, having 20 years experience in public school, and 5 years prior in residential treatment for youth with various and sundry disorders....the only way to provide for safety in a public school is to prevent the weapon from entering the building. I simply cannot, for the life of me, understand why courthouses, government buildings, airports, and a few other entities have secured their buildings, but public schools refuse to do so. Baffling.