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Colin Gray, father of Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, formally charged in connection with son's shooting spree

Georgia school shooting latest: 14-year-old suspect, father ordered held in custody

https://6abc.com/post/georgia-high-school-shooting-colt-gray-teen-suspect-accused-apalachee-hs-due-court/15273486/

The 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school and his father, who is also charged, were ordered held in custody in their first court appearances Friday.

Georgia school shooting latest: 14-year-old suspect, father ordered held in custody

Colin Gray, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) said.

22 comments

Maggoty

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According to CNN the Christmas gift timeline is significant because this was after police had talked to the parents about the kid making online threats to do a school shooting.

They knew and they gave him a gun anyway.

Nuke_the_whales

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Not that the police helped the matter in any way. They excused the guns in the house and told the dad to "keep him away from the video games" like we're back in the damn 80s again.

Maggoty

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They didn't but the parents still have a duty.

GBU_28

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Because never listen to a cop, that advice sure as shit isn't helping now that the DA has come knocking

die444die

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Just to be clear, it’s only the father. The mother didn’t have custody is my understanding.

lennybird

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Devil's advocate here and please inform me if I'm missing something here, but:

If agents visited and could do literally nothing about the kid saying these things, then walked away.
And no actual legal restrictions were placed upon the father or son...
... How is the father culpable for that which even police could not address?

Doesn't this mean the law needs changed so that preventative action can occur instead of looking for a scapegoat?

That is: If this was such a red flag on hindsight, then why the fuck wasn't it a red flag then and why aren't the police who ultimately did nothing being arrested for homicide?

Speaking as someone who has no problem advocating for a national firearm ban along other measures, this feels like scapegoating without actually addressing the core reasons why this shit happens in the first place.

Serinus

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It was the reddest of flags. Georgia does not have laws that allow them to take action for red flags.

The kid didn't even beat his wife, which is usually the accepted standard if they did have red flag laws.

lennybird

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There just seems to be some incongruity with the fact that he was completely legally allowed to own a gun and without any evidence of being an accomplice to the actual crime the parent is held culpable for what his son did even after cops "paid him a visit," which means absolutely nothing... Oh, and the son is being tried as an adult. There are just several disconnects here that I'm not comfortable with.

Like, I'm curious... If he took a steak knife that was bought by his father and left in the kitchen drawer and used that on classmates, would the father still be considered an accomplice? I seriously doubt it.

I want to be pissed off, too. But I want to both have the law actually make sense and get to the root of the fucking problem, too. Maybe we should actually look at why there is rising adolescent suicidal and homicidal ideation...? Arrest the cops for consistency sake? Create the red flag law, or you know, ban the selling or ownership of the gun in the first place that is for all intents unnecessary?

Edit: lots of down-votes but not much in way of a response. Don't be shy, what do you take issue with?

theRealBassist

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This would be my understanding of the thought process. Keep in mind, I'm not saying this is morally right or wrong, nor am I saying he will end up convicted.

The standard for legal persecution by the police in response to vague threats of potential violence by a teenager is much much higher than the standard for child neglect which leads to the death of others. One had very little direct evidence that anything serious would be carried out, and the other left 4 people dead.

In the state of Georgia, at least, there is a concept that you basically don't own your body until you are 17/18. If a parent gives you a firearm, particularly a firearm that is illegal for a minor to own in the state of Georgia, the parent can be held liable for the effects of that gift.

Your analogy of the kid finding a knife in a drawer is not 1 to 1. The closer analogy would be a father handing a kitchen knife to his son who is in the middle of yelling at his little brother saying he hates him, and then being surprised that his angry son used the damn knife.

The police can not arrest you for the potential of comitting a crime. The police can not sanction your right, the father in this case, because of an investigation on your son. However, you are absolutely responsible for the safety and well being of your son at all times, and it should have been understood by the father that illegally giving his 14 year old, troubled, previously investigated son an AR-15, might be a bad idea.

lennybird

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Fair points and thanks for the discussion. I had to dig through a couple articles to actually find that it seems that it was indeed illegal for his father to give him that firearm in the state of Georgia unless he adhered to certain exceptions for hunting and what not — which it doesn't look like that was the case. That certainly changes things.

GBU_28

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To play along: this is what a red flag law is for, in theory.

Stuff is happening, the guns should be removed until stuff isn't happening

Maggoty

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There's enough handcuffs to go around. The US isn't in short supply there.

bulwark

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I agree with holding the parents accountable. If your dog mauls someone you are liable. The son should also be charged, but he didn't wind up like this in a vacuum.

dual_sport_dork

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And at 14 years old, he sure as shit did not stroll into his local gun store and fill out that form 4473. That was his dad's gun, which his dad provided unsupervised access to.

Which was not a smart fucking move.

BlackRing

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Can we go out on a limb and say the father is even being sort of abusive here? I mean... Here's a very dangerous thing that can cause people to die. Go have fun.

I get it isn't that simple but... I have a kid. I also have guns. My kid wants to learn to shoot one day.

There's a big heavy door, and a lock. No way for my kid to access them without me. No access.

There's criticizing another's parenting choices, and then there's abuse and I am starting to think this is abusive.

ansiz

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But also you'd probably react differently if the police showed up to your house because your kid made threats about shooting people. Like you wouldn't then go buy them a gun for Christmas, regardless of how well you stored it.

Abuse doesn't really jump out to me, more like denial.