The trial of Colin Gray, father of a teen accused in a deadly Georgia high school shooting, began Monday (February 16) in Barrow County. Gray faces nearly 30 felony counts, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, for allegedly providing his son with the rifle used in the September 2024 attack that left two students and two teachers dead.
Prosecutors argue that Gray ignored multiple warning signs about his son’s behavior before giving him the weapon used in the Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia.
“This is not a case about holding parents accountable for what their children do,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith told jurors during opening statements. “This case is about this defendant and his actions in allowing a child that he has custody over access to a firearm and ammunition after being warned that that child was going to harm others.”
The prosecution outlined a series of red flags they claim Gray ignored. In 2021, Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, allegedly used a school computer to search “how to kill your dad.” In May 2023, authorities investigated an online shooting threat traced to the Gray home after receiving an FBI tip. Despite these incidents, prosecutors say Colin Gray gave his son the rifle as a Christmas gift later that year.
Smith also told jurors that Gray knew his son was obsessed with school shooters and had received a troubling text weeks before the attack reading: “Whenever something happens, just know the blood is on your hands.”
Defense attorney Brian Hobbs countered that Colt Gray deliberately hid his plans from his father. “You cannot hold someone criminally responsible for failing to predict what was intentionally hidden from them,” Hobbs argued.
On the morning of the shooting, Colt’s mother reportedly called the school after receiving alarming text messages and warned a counselor that her son had access to firearms. Investigators say Colt brought a semiautomatic rifle to school in his backpack, left class, and opened fire in a classroom and hallways before being apprehended by school resource officers.
The trial is taking place in Barrow County with jurors from neighboring Hall County due to pretrial publicity. Colt Gray remains in custody awaiting his own trial.
This case joins a growing trend of prosecutors seeking to hold parents criminally responsible for deadly school shootings committed by their children.
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