Trial begins for father of alleged Winder, Ga., school shooter

by · UPI

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The murder trial of the father of an alleged Georgia school shooter began Monday.

Colt Gray, then 14, allegedly killed two teachers and two students and injured nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., in 2024 with a gun his father bought him for Christmas. His father, Colin Gray, pleaded not guilty to 30 charges associated with the shooting, including two counts each of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Police allege that they spoke with Colin Gray a year earlier about a social media post made by Colt saying he threatened to commit a school shooting. After the discussion, Colin Gray allegedly bought Colt an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas, which he is accused of using in the attack.

Colt Gray is awaiting trial on 55 charges, including murder and aggravated assault.

Related

Both Grays have pleaded not guilty to their charges.

The teachers killed were Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irmie, and the students were Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn.

Winder is about an hour northeast of Atlanta and about 20 minutes from Athens.

Relatives told reporters and investigators that Colt was struggling over his parents' divorce and his family's home eviction. His mother had several run-ins with police and had been ordered to avoid drugs and alcohol.

When sheriff's deputies in neighboring Jackson County, Ga., visited the home and spoke with Colin Gray, he told them that he kept hunting rifles in the house but that Colt's access was not "unfettered," The New York Times reported. Gray said he would be "mad as hell" if Colt made that threat and that "all the guns would go away," he said. He added that his son, who was in middle school at the time, was bullied.

The deputies could not determine if the teenager had made the threat.

After the shooting, police discovered that Colt Gray had allegedly created a "shrine" to other school shooters. They also found a notebook he had left in class in which he had sketched out the floor plan of classrooms and hallways and had estimated how many people he could kill or wound.

Police also found a note at his home where he had written, apparently to his family, "It's not your fault."

The parents of some other alleged school shooters have faced charges.

Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison for four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Ethan Crumbley killed four students in the attack on Nov. 30, 2021. He is serving life in prison.

Robert E. Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct in Waukegan, Ill., after his son Robert Crimo III killed seven people and injured 40 at a Fourth of July parade in 2023. The father was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 24 months of probation.

This week in Washington

President Donald Trump speaks alongside Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Thursday. The Trump administration has announced the finalization of rules that revoke the EPA's ability to regulate climate pollution by ending the endangerment finding that determined six greenhouse gases could be categorized as dangerous to human health. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo