Georgia school shooting suspect due in court charged with killing 4 people

The teenager accused of shooting dead two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school will appear in court for the first time Thursday to face murder charges, hours after his father was arrested on suspicion of facilitating the shootings by allowing his son to possess a deadly weapon.

Colt Gray, 14, is due to appear via video link at Barrow County Superior Court in Winder from 8.30 a.m. ET. He will remain at the Gainesville Youth Detention Center.

Gray is also accused of wounding nine others in the shooting spree at Apalachee High School in Winder. 

He is being treated as an adult and is charged with four counts of felony murder.

His father, Colin Gray, 54, was arrested Thursday and faces 14 charges, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He was booked into Barrow County Jail.

Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News Thursday night that Colin Gray gave his son an AR-15 style rifle as a gift. This happened after the pair were interviewed by law enforcement officials in May 2023 in connection with reported online threats to carry out a school shooting, the sources said.

Colt Gray was not arrested after that interview because he could not be tied to an online account that made the threats, legal documents show.

It also emerged Thursday that Coly Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, was arrested in 2023 on family violence charges. Court records from Barrow County show that she pleaded guilty in December to one count each of second-degree criminal damage of property and criminal trespass-family violence.