The father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect has been arrested and charged with numerous crimes related to the murder spree. The prosecutors bringing those charges appear to be following in the footsteps of their Michigan counterparts who secured convictions against the parents of the  Oxford High School shooter.
After Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of involuntary manslaughter under the theory that her negligence led to her son murdering four of his fellow students, rather than any direct involvement in the attack, I predicted we’d likely see more cases down the line. The conviction marked a success for the first of its kind charges, but I reasoned it also wouldn’t be the last time we saw a case like that.
“The more common way we’ll likely see these lines tested in the wake of Jennifer Crumbley’s conviction is through prosecutors pursuing similar charges,” I said at the time. “The outcome in this case will probably embolden prosecutors to go after parents of other mass shooters and lower-profile killers.”
I argued the next test case was the one against her husband, which also ended in a conviction. Now, Georgia prosecutors are trying the same and creating a bit of a trend. But it’s one that may still be connected to particularly egregious conduct on the part of the parents involved.
In the Crumbleys’ case, they didn’t actively assist their son in carrying out his attack, but they seemed to do everything they could to enable it. From ignoring his bizarre behavior to buying him a handgun they were unable to keep secure to brushing off a meeting at the school about disturbing images and threats he’d left on a worksheet just hours before he started shooting, they acted in a seriously irresponsible way. They also offered up little contrition or regret, with Jennifer even testifying she wouldn’t have done things differently in retrospect.
That was enough for a jury to find their negligence was so bad it rose to the level of criminality.
On the other hand, the parents of the shooter who murdered ten people at Santa Fe High School in 2018 were recently found not liable for their son’s actions in civil court. That case didn’t feature the same kind of sensational warnings, like the morning-of school meeting in the Crumbley’s cass. And the guns had been stored in a locked safe and cabinet, though the shooter was still able to get access to them to carry out his deadly attack.
The jury apparently had a harder time holding the parents responsible for the son’s actions in that case.
What happened during the leadup to the Georgia shooting is not yet completely clear. Much of the reporting is preliminary and early details of these fast-moving breaking news stories can often be incorrect or other details that change the full picture can emerge weeks or even months later. Still, the early reports indicate the actions of the father may be closer to those of the Crumbleys than the Santa Fe parents.
For one, he received a warning from the FBI and the local sheriff’s office there was reason to believe his son had made school shooting threats just over a year ago.
“In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” the FBI said in a statement. “The online threats contained photographs of guns. Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia, and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action.”
The sheriff’s office said the son denied making threats, and the office didn’t have probable cause to make an arrest. It also said the father claimed his son “did not have unsupervised access” to the firearms then in the home.
Colin Gray, the father of the accused shooter, is now facing four counts of Involuntary Manslaughter, two counts of Second Degree Murder, and eight counts of Cruelty to Children. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said those charges are related to the son’s access to the gun used in the shooting.
“Colin Gray knowingly allowed his son, Colt Gray, to possess a gun,” the police organization said. “Due to the active investigation, we’re unable to release further details.”
Additionally, CNN reported Gray bought the rifle specifically for his son in the months after he was suspected of making school shooting threats.
“Colin Gray told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation,” the news outlet reported on Thursday. “One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present.”
Time will tell wether those reports stand up over time or if they are enough to secure a conviction in court, especially since it isn’t a crime in Georgia to allow a minor unsupervised access to a rifle the way it is for a handgun. But the charges ensure we’re going to find out the answer to those questions. And they’ve established a new trend in how law enforcement responds to school shootings–at least those where the parents appear to have been especially negligent.
