No bond for son, dad in school shooting; more charges ahead
WINDER, Ga. - Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said the suspect in this week’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School will face additional charges, and more charges are also being considered against his father.
The 14-year-old suspect in the shooting that killed four people and his father will both stay in custody following back-to-back court hearings Friday morning where their lawyers declined to seek bail.
At Colt Gray’s hearing, the teen was advised of his rights along with the charges and penalties he faced.
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“Pray for your kids that go to school, because you never know what will happen,” said Ronaldo Vega, 14, was hit several times in the arm and leg.
After the hearing, the teen was escorted out in shackles at the wrists and ankles in khaki pants and a green shirt. The judge then called Colt Gray back to the courtroom to correct an earlier misstatement that his crimes could be punishable by death. Because he’s a juvenile, the maximum penalty he would face is life without parole. The judge also set another hearing for Dec. 4.
Shortly after Colt Gray’s hearing, his father, Colin Gray, was brought into court. Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder.
Inside the Georgia high school where a sleepy morning was pierced by gunfire
It was the middle of second period at Apalachee High School in near Winder, Georgia, and the boy who few knew slipped out of his algebra class and returned with a a semiautomatic assault-style rifle and opened fire.
Police say he knowingly allowed his son to have access to an AR-15-style rifle that was allegedly used in the shooting.
Citing law enforcement sources, CNN reported Colin Gray told investigators he purchased the gun as a Christmas present for his son last year.
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“I’m not trying to send a message,” Smith said after their court appearances. “I’m just trying to use the tools in my arsenal to prosecute people for the crimes they commit.
“You don’t have to have been physically injured in this to be a victim,” he said. “Every person in this community is a victim. Every child in that school is a victim.”
A grand jury has been emed for the case, and will meet Oct. 17.
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Media outlets were prohibited from photographing Colt Gray’s face. Colin Gray was visibly shaken during his court appearance, and was seen weeping and rocking back and forth in his seat.
Colin Gray, dressed in a gray-striped jail uniform at Friday’s hearing, answered questions in a barely audible croak, giving his age and saying he finished 11th grade, earning a high school equivalency diploma.
About 50 onlookers were in the courtroom for the hearings, in addition to news media and sheriff’s deputies. Some family of victims in the front row hugged each other and one woman clutched a stuffed animal.
Colt Gray’s attorney at the hearing was Zane Harmon, an assistant public defender from Jackson County; he made no request for bond. The maximum penalty for each count is life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.
Because of Colt Gray’s age, Mingledorff said the charges against him do not qualify for death penalty considerations.
Colin Gray’s defense counsel was Donna Seagraves, a circuit public defender from Jackson County. Both Harmon and Seagraves said alternate counsels for the father and son will be appointed later in the day. Colin Gray is facing up to 180 years in prison if convicted.
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Before the hearings at the Barrow County courthouse, court workers set out boxes of tissue along courtroom benches, and relatives and community began to trickle into the courtroom Friday morning in advance of the hearings for the son and father.
According to arrest warrants obtained by The Associated Press, Colt Gray is accused of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle to kill two students and two teachers at the school. Authorities have not offered any motive or explained how he obtained the gun or got it into the school.
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Colin Gray was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting, including with counts of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said.
“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said.
It’s the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings. In April, Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.
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In addition to Wednesday’s shooting rampage, FBI officials believe Colt made online threats to commit a school shooting in May 2023. At the time, the 13-year-old Colt was interviewed alongside his father, who said there were hunting guns in the house.
Colt denied having posted the threats, and there was no probable cause for an arrest, according to the FBI.
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Before Colin Gray’s arrest was reported, the AP knocked on the door of a home listed for him seeking comment about his son’s arrest.
Colt Gray was charged as an adult with four counts of murder in the deaths of Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
A neighbor ed Schermerhorn as inquisitive when he was a little boy. Aspinwall and Irimie were both math teachers, and Aspinwall also helped coach the school’s football team. Irimie, who immigrated from Romania, volunteered at a local church, where she taught dance.
The attack was the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas. The classroom killings have set off fervent debates about gun control but there has been little change to national gun laws.
It was the 30th mass killing in the U.S. so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. At least 127 people have died in those killings, which are defined as events in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer — the same definition used by the FBI.
By the numbers
The Gun Violence Archive said that in Georgia schools since 2022, there have been:
- 97 gun incidents
- Five gun fatalities
- 17 gun injuries
- 72 arrests for gun incidents
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