Parent of Georgia school shooter charged, part of a growing trend
September 10, 2024
Security Info Watch
Types : In the News
The father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray was in court today to face criminal charges for his son’s mass shooting in Georgia, a development that appears to be a growing trend of authorities holding culpable parents responsible for such incidents.
The father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray was in court today to face criminal charges for his son’s mass shooting in Georgia, a development that appears to be a growing trend of authorities holding culpable parents responsible for such incidents.
Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, 2 counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey did not go into detail about the charges but the father was expected to appear in court soon.
Gun laws in Georgia, as measured by organizations such as Giffords Law Center and Everytown for Gun Safety, are considered to be fairly relaxed, so it may be difficult to tell how prosecutors will prove Colin Gray broke the law.
Among other things, gun owners in Georgia are not legally required to lock up or otherwise securely store firearms away from children. Colt Gray is 14 and could not legally own or purchase a gun.
Tim Pastore, a Partner in the New York office of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads and legal expert for Security Business magazine, said the Apalachee High School shooting was “another sad case rooted in our failure as a society to keep firearms out of the hands of those known to be a risk to themselves or others.
“Here, as with the tragic Crumbley case in Michigan, a parent may be held responsible for the intentional acts of their child.”
Pastore said initial reports indicate that Gray previously made threats against the school and himself and, notwithstanding those threats and his father’s knowledge of those threats, the father nevertheless purchased the weapon and gifted it to his son.
“The message of this, and the Crumbley case before it, is that parents can be held criminally responsible for the intentional acts of their child – particularly where the parent knew or should have known that the child was a danger to him/herself and to others,” Pastore told SecurityInfoWatch.com. “Buying the child a weapon, as this father allegedly did, shows a callous disregard for the consequences – and warrants these criminal charges.
“More than any other industrialized nation,” he continued, “America is failing to protect children and other victims from gun violence – largely because, as in this case, guns are in such ample supply and so easy to access. While this case may involve mental illness, every country has a segment of their population suffering from mental illness. The difference is the availability of guns – which, in America, is flagrantly disproportionate than in all other industrialized countries.”