GUILTY: Father Bought Rifle — Son Murdered Four

A wooden gavel with a tag reading 'Guilty' next to stacked books — GUILTY VERDICT

A Georgia father became the first parent in U.S. history convicted of second-degree murder for giving his troubled teenage son the rifle used in a deadly school massacre, marking a watershed moment in holding parents criminally accountable when their negligence enables mass violence.

Story Snapshot

Colin Gray convicted of second-degree murder after gifting an AR-15 to son despite warnings of mental health issues and mass shooter obsession
Four innocent lives were lost at Apalachee High School when 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire with the Christmas gift rifle
Jury deliberated less than two hours, rejecting father’s claims he couldn’t foresee son’s “evil” actions
Landmark verdict sets unprecedented legal precedent for parental responsibility in school shooting cases

Father Ignored Clear Warning Signs Before Massacre

Colin Gray gifted his 14-year-old son Colt an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle for Christmas 2023, despite mounting evidence the teen was spiraling into dangerous obsession. The boy had created a shrine to Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz in his bedroom and made online threats serious enough to trigger a law enforcement visit.

Colin’s ex-wife Marcee repeatedly urged him to lock up the guns, warnings he disregarded. Months later, on September 4, 2024, Colt used that exact weapon to slaughter two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, shattering a community and forever changing American legal standards for parental accountability.

Tragic Attack Claimed Four Lives in Minutes

Colt Gray left his algebra class around 9:45 a.m., retrieved the rifle from his backpack with the barrel wrapped in poster board, and donned yellow gloves before attempting to reenter the classroom. When classmates spotted the gun and denied him entry, he opened fire anyway, killing 14-year-old Christian Angulo with 10-15 rounds before moving through the halls.

Students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, along with teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, also fell victim to the rampage. School resource officers responded swiftly, engaging Colt who surrendered by 10:23 a.m., but the damage was irreversible with additional injuries to another teacher and eight students.

Father who gave gun to Georgia school shooting suspect for Christmas is guilty of 2nd-degree murderhttps://t.co/Jq00yudhCl

— Larry O. Dean (@larryodean) March 3, 2026

Murder Conviction Breaks New Legal Ground

On March 3, 2026, after a two-week trial, jurors convicted Colin Gray of two counts of second-degree murder for the students’ deaths, two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the teachers’ deaths, and multiple counts of reckless conduct and cruelty to children. The deliberation took less than two hours.

Colin showed little emotion as he was handcuffed post-verdict, awaiting sentencing. This conviction represents the first time a parent has faced second-degree murder charges, not just manslaughter, for enabling a child’s mass shooting. Previous cases like the Michigan Oxford school shooting resulted only in manslaughter convictions for parents who ignored warning signs.

Georgia’s Lax Gun Laws Enabled Easy Access

Georgia maintains some of the nation’s most permissive firearm regulations, requiring no permits, safety courses, or safe-storage mandates for semiautomatic rifles. This legislative framework made it effortless for Colin to purchase and gift the deadly weapon to his underage son with minimal restrictions.

When Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators visited the Gray home following Colt’s online threats, Colin acknowledged owning hunting guns but claimed his son had no unfettered access. This was demonstrably false.

The absence of mandatory safe-storage laws meant Colin faced no legal obligation to secure firearms, though common sense and basic parental responsibility should have dictated otherwise, especially given the glaring red flags.

A Georgia man who gave his teenage son the gun he’s accused of using to kill two students and two teachers at a high school was convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter Tuesday. https://t.co/4v40UUQ9am

— fox8news (@fox8news) March 3, 2026

Colin testified during the trial that he struggled daily with the tragedy, describing his son’s actions as unforeseeable “evil” and maintaining he had established rules limiting the rifle to supervised range use until Colt turned 18.

Prosecutors demolished this defense by highlighting the shrine to the Parkland shooter, the online threats, the law enforcement visit, and Marcee’s explicit warnings—all ignored while the weapon remained accessible.

The jury clearly found Colin’s negligence rose to criminal culpability, establishing that parental responsibility includes actively preventing foreseeable harm when evidence screams danger. His son Colt, now 16, faces 55 counts as an adult with a status hearing scheduled for mid-March 2026, having pleaded not guilty.