The trial of a Georgia man who is accused of giving his 14-year-old son access to a firearm that he used tokill four people and injure several othersin 2024 at Apalachee High School began on Monday.
Colin Gray faces two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter 20 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of reckless conduct in connection with the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School. He wasarrested shortly after the shootingon allegations that he had allowed his son to possess a weapon.
Opening statements kicked off in a courtroom in Barrow County Monday morning.
His son,Colt Gray,is accused of killing two students, two teachers and wounding nine others at the school in Winder, Georgia, in September. Colt Gray has been charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder.
Over two years before the shooting, local law enforcement had interviewed the father and son in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting, two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigationtold NBC News. But authorities did not arrest the teenager because they could not tie him to an online account that had made the threats, according to investigative documents.
Colin Gray told authorities at the time that he was teaching his son about "firearms and safety" and how to hunt, but that if his son did make any threats, he "would be mad as hell and then all the guns will go away."
At some point after the interaction with authorities, Colin Gray gifted his son an AR-15-style rifle, according to law enforcement sources.
Gray's trial possesses some similarities to a case in Oxford, Michigan, where a 15-year-old committed a mass shooting at his high school in 2021. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were ultimatelysentenced to 10 to 15 yearsin prison following a trial.
Gray faces a maximum total of 180 years in prison if found guilty on all charges against him.
