Atlanta: In a rare move, Georgia state officials on Thursday arrested the father of the 14-year-old boy, who opened fire in a high school on Wednesday and killed four people, for knowingly allowing his son to have the murder weapon. The shooter was identified as Colt Gray, 14, who was taken into custody after the shooting and will be charged and tried as an adult.
Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. "These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon," said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, a city of 18,000 some 80 km northeast of Atlanta, revived the national debate about rampant gun violence in America and an outpouring of grief in the region. Officials identified those killed as two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Georgia school shooting
According to authorities, Colt Gray was armed with an "AR platform style weapon" and was quickly confronted by deputies, after which he immediately got on the ground and surrendered. What is more interesting is that the suspect and his father was interrogated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last year over online threats about committing a school shooting.
"The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject," the FBI said. However, the teenager has denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when police interviewed him last year.
Classes were cancelled on Thursday at the Georgia high school, though some people came to leave flowers around the flagpole and kneel in the grass with heads bowed. “I'm upset, I'm crying constantly,” said Linda Carter, who was shaken by the rampage even though she has no children who attend the school. “These kids shouldn't have lost their lives. These parents, these adults, these teachers should not have lost their lives yesterday.”
'We cannot accept this as normal': Biden
Reacting to the incident, US President Joe Biden said he and his wife mourned the deaths of the four killed due to "senseless gun violence" and that the incident was another reminder of how "gun violence continues to tear our communities apart". Officials identified those killed as two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
In a statement, Biden said 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. We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life," he said.
The US President called on Republicans in Congress to say "enough is enough" and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. "We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers," he asserted.
The US has seen hundreds of shootings inside schools and colleges in the past two decades, with the deadliest resulting in over 30 deaths at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carnage has sparked pitched debate over the US gun laws and the US Constitution's Second Amendment, which enshrines the right "to keep and bear arms."
(with agency input)
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