Colin Gray, the father of the alleged September 4, 2024, Apalachee High School shooter, was convicted Tuesday on 27 charges, including second-degree murder.
On September 6, 2024, Breitbart News reported that Gray was arrested for allegedly giving his son the rifle for Christmas and that rifle later being used in the attack, which resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers.
Breitbart News also pointed to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s announcement, which focused not on the rifle being given as a Christmas gift but on the father allegedly “knowingly… allowing” his son to possess it. The son was 14 years old at the time the shooting was carried out.
On Tuesday, NBC News noted that “the jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding Gray guilty on all 27 charges.”
Gray’s son was brought to the FBI’s attention in May 2023, just months before the father allegedly gave him the rifle. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, “In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting noted that the mother of the alleged Apalachee High School shooter “was aware of [her] son’s fascination with…[the]Parkland shooter” and had warned Gray “to lock his guns in his truck to keep them away from [the son].”
Gray’s attorneys are expected to appeal the conviction.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
