GA-Winder-Massive police presence at Apalachee High School.

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Yet another parent giving a gun to a troubled kid.

I'm honestly surprised the father hasn't been charged yet.

jmo

Wonder if charging the accused juvenile shooter as an adult has any potential impact on whether the father might also be charged?

And I am not advocating or suggesting that the accused juvenile shooter should not be charged as an adult. Or that the father should not also be charged if allowed or applicable. Just a question as denoted above. IANAL. MOO

 

[Bounceycat]

BBM
RSBM for focus

HOLIDAY PRESENT?? Seems the father needs help in appropriate parenting too. Give a 14 yo with mental health problems a gun?!? Enabling homicide or suicide, imho.

MOO JMO

Not only that, but an AR-platform-style gun?!

 

[Baby baby Jane]

BBM
RSBM for focus

HOLIDAY PRESENT?? Seems the father needs help in appropriate parenting too. Give a 14 yo with mental health problems a gun?!? Enabling homicide or suicide, imho.

MOO JMO

Wondering for what “holiday” is Automatic Rifle 15 the appropriate gift … for a young man known to FBI.

 

[MassGuy]

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

It's a bad idea even if everything is fine, unless that gun is completely secure. It looks like neither of those was the reality here.

 

[DS2021]

Really intresting article.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/colt-gray-suspect-georgia-shooter

Ill summarize with a quote from his grandfather

“I understand that Colt chose to do what he did, and I understand he has to pay for it,” he said. “But I’m telling you, the environment that he lived in… you put somebody in a situation like that for 10 or 11 years, guess what’s gonna happen? Nothing good.”

 

[Puzzles8]

The father of Apalachee High School mass shooting suspect Colt Gray told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

CNN has made several attempts to reach Colin Gray by phone and in person at the family home. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/winder-georgia-shooting-apalachee-high-school/index.html

If Colin Gray bought the gun that was used in the massacre, I'd assume he has contacted an attorney by now. If he can't afford one he will be appointed a Public Defender once he is charged.

My jaw drops that Colt's father purchased the weapon for his 14 yo son as a 'Holiday Gift'. Why would he even think an assault rifle was a an appropriate gift for a troubled 13/14 yo?

I also wonder if Colt's name was chosen based upon a reference to guns? Just thinking out loud.

JMO

 

[kaen]

Yet another parent giving a gun to a troubled kid.

I'm honestly surprised the father hasn't been charged yet.

jmo

The parents of the Michigan high school shooter were tried and convicted. What about a visit from LE about your kid having a Discord account and making threats, even if it was not 100% substantiated, says to a parent that their kid needs an AR15 for the holidays. For goodness sakes, why would this man do this?

Ugggggggggghhhhhhh.

 

[MassGuy]

Really intresting article.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/colt-gray-suspect-georgia-shooter

Ill summarize with a quote from his grandfather

I think that's a very reasonable statement. We don't excuse serial killers because the vast majority of them grew up in terrible households, but we recognize that upbringing was a contributing factor that made them what they became.

Here we have a mother with a criminal record a mile long, and I can't imagine dad is a winner either. I mean, he did buy the murder weapon for a child who was clearly disturbed.

 

[MassGuy]

Wonder if charging the accused juvenile shooter as an adult has any potential impact on whether the father might also be charged?

And I am not advocating or suggesting that the accused juvenile shooter should not be charged as an adult. Or that the father should not also be charged if allowed or applicable. Just a question as denoted above. IANAL. MOO

That Michigan shooter was charged as an adult and it didn't affect the ability to also charge his parents. My question is more about the law in Georgia, and if it allows for the father to be charged in the first place.

 

[Leopard]

I can't imagine the amount of violence CG was exposed to in a broken home where guns are given as gifts.

 

[Elley Mae]

Pictured: Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, 14, seen in mug shot as aunt says he was ‘begging for help’

The mug shot shows baby-face Gray with long dyed hair and a blank stare.

nypost.com

 

[fred&edna]

Emotional immaturity coupled with free-access to a gun (particularly a semi-automatic rifle) is rarely (if ever) a good idea.

jmo

 

[realanastasia]

Father of Georgia School Shooting Suspect Arrested and Charged: Live Updates

The father, Colin Gray, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the authorities said. An official said the charges stemmed from him “knowingly allowing his son” to have a weapon.

www.nytimes.com

 

[mickey2942]

Emotional immaturity coupled with free-access to a gun (particularly a semi-automatic rifle) is rarely (if ever) a good idea.

jmo

Agreed. There is nothing wrong with a gun for Christmas, for a teen, like a .22. That is secured, unless under adult supervision. But a semi automatic rifle, is a bit extreme.

 

[m00c0w]

That Michigan shooter was charged as an adult and it didn't affect the ability to also charge his parents. My question is more about the law in Georgia, and if it allows for the father to be charged in the first place.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure Georgia’s manslaughter laws allow for charging something like this. They would have to get pretty creative to wrap the father in.

 

[Dotta]

The shooter has younger siblings: a sister and a brother.

I wonder about their mental state.
Do they also beg for help?

 

[kaen]

His aunt, Annie Brown, told the Washington Post on Thursday that the boy had been “begging for help from everybody around him.”

She said he had been struggling with his mental health prior to the shooting. Pictured: Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, 14, seen in mug shot as aunt says he was ‘begging for help’



So, did helping from afar include calling Child Protective Services, calling the School Psychologist/School Counselor, or calling LE? I have no doubt that his mental health was poor and he was in trouble. But.......that inaction impacted so many more people. He took the lives of 4 people, changed the lives of every child and family in that region. His family is also responsible and bear this burden. No sympathy from me. No grace from me.

 

[Lilibet]

“I’m going to be mad as hell if he did” make threats about a school shooting, said the father, Colin Gray, according to a transcript of the May 2023 interview obtained by The New York Times. “Then all the guns will go away,” he added.

Records from an eviction the previous year show that Mr. Gray owned several weapons, including an AR-15, the type of firearm that officials say was used in the shooting on Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga.

Suspect Claimed Online Threats Had Come From Hacked Account

The father of the Georgia school shooting suspect told investigators he would be “mad as hell” if his son had made the threats, according to a transcript. “Then all the guns will go away.”

www.nytimes.com

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!

 

[kaen]

Emotional immaturity coupled with free-access to a gun (particularly a semi-automatic rifle) is rarely (if ever) a good idea.

jmo

The other issue is the emotional maturity of those who are buying the gun and giving an emotionally immature person who has been asking for help (according to family members) a gun. You have a child accused of making threats who is also asking family for help regarding his mental health AND an adult who after visited by LE 6 months prior about threats buys said child an AR-15, the preferred/favored gun of school shooters.
This is a poster situation for a tragedy to happen.

 

[Leopard]

So, did helping from afar include calling Child Protective Services, calling the School Psychologist/School Counselor, or calling LE?

From the CNN article, it seems that the family was no stranger to CPS or LE:

In October 2023, Barrow County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a wellness check on the Gray family after Marcee Gray reported that she hadn’t heard from her husband or their children in two weeks. Colin Gray, who was at their residence, said all of their children were with him, a sheriff’s deputy wrote in a report.

Colin Gray gave the deputy a paper from the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services that showed “a safety plan was put in place for him to have the children with him” and Marcee Gray “could not see them without supervision,” the deputy wrote.

A spokesperson from the Georgia Department of Human Services said Thursday she could not comment on the case due to confidentiality laws. But Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a press conference Wednesday that the bureau was aware that the division had previously had “some previous contacts” with the Gray family, and “we are pursuing that avenue as well too to see if that has any connection with today’s incident.”