Father of Apalachee school shooter found guilty of second-degree murder after son killed 2 students, 2 teachers

( Post Millennial )

A Barrow County jury has found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder and multiple other charges connected to the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School that left four people dead. The verdict came Tuesday after jurors deliberated for several hours following two weeks of testimony, reports CBS.

Gray was indicted on 29 counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children. He had pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 30 years in prison for the murder convictions. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

The case stems from the actions of his son, Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting. Investigators allege the teen carried a semiautomatic assault-style rifle onto a school bus on Sept. 4, 2024, with the barrel protruding from a book bag wrapped in poster board. Authorities say he left a second-period class, retrieved the weapon from a bathroom, and opened fire in a classroom and hallway areas.

Killed were students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, along with teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Another teacher and eight students were injured. Prosecutors said the teen had planned the attack and left behind a notebook outlining steps for the shooting and a diagram of his classroom.

During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Colin Gray supplied the firearm and ammunition despite signs of his son's deteriorating mental state. They pointed to prior incidents and what they described as a “shrine” to Nikolas Cruz.

“After seeing sign after sign of his son's deteriorating mental state, his violence, his school shooter obsession, the defendant had sufficient warning that his son was a bomb just waiting to go off,” Barrow County Assistant District Attorney Patricia Brooks told jurors. “And instead of disarming him, he gave him the detonator.”

Gray’s prosecution is the third instance nationally of a parent being charged in connection with a mass shooting carried out by their child