Georgia Father Faces Trial for Allegedly Providing Son with Rifle Linked to School Shooting Incident

A Georgia man went on trial this week, accused of facilitating a tragic school shooting in 2024 by allowing his son access to a firearm, despite numerous warnings. The incident resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers.

Colin Gray is facing nearly 30 felony charges, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children, connected to the September 4 incident at Apalachee High School in Winder. Prosecutors claim that Gray’s decision to provide his son with a rifle directly contributed to the fatal events.

“This case is not about holding parents responsible for their children’s actions,” stated Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith during his opening remarks to the jury. “It’s about this defendant allowing access to a firearm and ammunition to a child, despite warnings that the child intended to harm others.”

In Georgia, second-degree murder charges can be applied when a death occurs as a result of child cruelty, which is the underlying felony in this situation. Smith explained to jurors that the charges are built around the victims, with cruelty-to-children charges related to the students’ deaths and reckless conduct charges tied to involuntary manslaughter counts for the teachers who were killed.

During the trial’s first day, District Attorney Brad Smith highlighted a weapon shown on the courtroom screen, as the trial of Colin Gray, whose son Colt Gray is the shooting suspect, commenced at the Barrow County courthouse on Monday, February 16, 2026, in Winder, Georgia. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Investigators have said Colt Gray, 14 at the time, brought a semiautomatic rifle to school in his backpack, left class and opened fire in a classroom and hallways. Two school resource officers took him into custody, authorities said.

Defense attorney Brian Hobbs argued the teen hid his plans from his father. 

“You cannot hold someone criminally responsible for failing to predict what was intentionally hidden from them,” Hobbs said.

Prosecutors pointed to what they described as a pattern of escalating red flags that were not acted upon.

In 2021, Colt Gray used a school computer to search “how to kill your dad,” Smith said. In May 2023, authorities investigated an online shooting threat traced to a computer at the Gray home after receiving a tip from the FBI. Colt Gray denied making the threat and said his account had been hacked, according to prosecutors. Smith said investigators asked Colin Gray at the time to restrict his son’s access to guns.

Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, looks down as his attorney gives his opening statement in the courtroom at the Barrow County courthouse, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Winder, Ga.  (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Despite those incidents, prosecutors allege Colin Gray gave his son the rifle as a Christmas gift later that year and continued buying accessories, including what Smith described as “a lot of ammunition.”

Smith also told jurors that on the morning of the shooting, Colt’s mother called the school after receiving alarming text messages and warned a counselor that her son had access to firearms, prompting administrators to begin searching for him.

Prosecutors have said Colin Gray knew his son was obsessed with school shooters and had received a troubling text weeks before the attack that read: “Whenever something happens, just know the blood is on your hands.”

An investigator testified that Gray was aware his son’s mental health had deteriorated and had sought counseling services.

Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, looks down as his attorney gives his opening statement in the courtroom at the Barrow County courthouse, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Winder, Ga. (Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

“We have had a very difficult past couple of years and he needs help. Anger, anxiety, quick to be volatile. I don’t know what to do,” Gray wrote, according to testimony.

Smith told jurors that despite those concerns, Gray did not pursue inpatient treatment for his son.

The trial is being held in Barrow County, where the shooting occurred, with jurors brought in from neighboring Hall County due to pretrial publicity.

Colt Gray is behind bars while awaiting his own trial. Day 2 of testimony in his father’s trial will proceed later today. 

The case is among a growing number nationwide in which prosecutors are seeking to hold parents criminally responsible in deadly school shootings.