The teenager who opened fire at a high school in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday has been charged with four counts of felony murder. Investigators say his father, Colin Gray, bought the 14-year-old the AR-15 weapon he used in the shooting as a gift in December 2023. As a result, the 54-year-old was also charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children — the most severe charges ever filed in the U.S. against the parent of an alleged school shooter.
The incident, which happened just a month into the new school year, is the deadliest school shooting in state history, according to the New York Times. Police said the two students killed were Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. The educators were identified as math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie. The nine injured victims are all expected to survive, authorities said. Several verified GoFundMe fundraisers have been created to support their families.
Authorities say the shooting began around 10:20 a.m. at Apalachee High School, a rural school with around 1,900 students about an hour outside Atlanta. Students were evacuated to the school’s football stadium, with some telling news outlets they first thought there was a drill before realizing there was an active shooter in the school.
Law enforcement identified the suspect as a 14-year-old student at the school. He surrendered to police, according to Chris Hosey, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation director. Police say they found evidence the student was interested in other mass shootings, particularly the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Family members have also said that the teen struggled with mental-health issues, and they voiced concern that he had access to a gun.
The FBI said investigators from the sheriff’s office in Jackson County interviewed the suspect and his father in May 2023, when the student was 13, after receiving tips of online threats that included pictures of firearms and warned of a school shooting at “an unidentified location and time.” The teen’s father confirmed to investigators that he owned hunting guns but said that his son had no unsupervised access to the weapons. The student denied making the online threats. The FBI said it alerted schools in the area but took no further action as there was no probable cause for an arrest.
There have been 30 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Associated Press. Georgia has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the nation, according to the gun-safety organization Everytown. The state does not ban assault-style weapons, does not require that firearms be securely stored, does not mandate background checks for handgun purchases, and does not require concealed-carry permits, among other things.
Elected officials quickly shared statements of support. “I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state,” Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement. “We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”
In a statement, President Biden said he’d been briefed on the shooting and the White House was coordinating with local, state, and federal partners to assist on the ground. He also called for common-sense gun-safety measures, including an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” said Biden. “Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”
At a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Vice-President Kamala Harris said, “Our kids are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential, and some part of their big beautiful brain is concerned about a shooter busting through the door of their classroom. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
This post has been updated.
