Father of suspected Apalachee HS shooter arrested, charged in connection with shooting : NPR

The father of the 14-year-old boy who is accused of killing four people and injuring nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., has been arrested in connection with Wednesday’s shooting, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The suspect’s father, Colin Gray, 54, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.

GBI Director Chris Hosey told reporters Thursday that the charges against Gray stem from him allegedly “knowingly allowing” the 14-year-old suspect to have a weapon.

“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said.

Earlier Thursday, the 14-year-old suspect was formally charged with four counts of felony murder. In a post on X, the GBI said additional charges are expected to be filed against the boy, whom NPR is not naming because of his age, and until a judge has to agreed to charge him as an adult. (The GBI told reporters following the shooting that officials intend to try the alleged shooter as an adult.)

The suspect is currently being held at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, where his first court appearance is scheduled virtually for Friday at 8:30 a.m.

“The investigation into the shooting at Apalachee HS is still active & ongoing,” the GBI said.

Two teachers and two students were killed. The GBI has identified those killed as students Christian Angulo, 14, and Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.

Autopsies will be performed on the four victims Thursday, the GBI said.

The nine people wounded in the shooting are all expected to make a full recovery, Barrow County, Ga., Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters Thursday evening.

“And that’s a testament to the response that we had, in my opinion, the response that medical staff had,” Smith said during Thursday’s news conference.

The suspect was taken into custody at the school.

Investigators described the gun used in the shooting as an “AR-style platform weapon.”

The GBI said Thursday that the investigation is “still active & ongoing.”

“This is day 2 of a very complex investigation & the integrity of the case is paramount,” the agency wrote on X. “We ask for the public’s patience as we work to ensure a successful prosecution & justice for the victims.”

The FBI had previously investigated the suspected shooter

In a post on X, the FBI said that in May 2023 it received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” and that the threats contained photos of guns.

The FBI said the sheriff’s office in nearby Jackson County identified “a possible subject,” a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father.

“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,” the FBI said.

The FBI said local schools were alerted to continue monitoring the subject, but that there were no strong grounds for an arrest or additional law enforcement action. The agency confirmed that the teenager was the one who was taken into custody after Wednesday’s shooting.

A piece of technology helped with the quick response to the shooting

Smith credited Centegix — an emergency alert technology — for alerting first responders to Wednesday’s shooting.

WABE: Metro Atlanta school districts issue precautions following Apalachee High School shooting

The Atlanta-based company produces a credit card-sized ID that can be worn on a lanyard. The ID has a button that staff can press to immediately alert the school, other staff, and law enforcement about health or safety issues that occur on campus, NPR member station WABE reported.

“It alerts us that there’s an active situation at a school. That was pressed. We’ve had that for about a week now,” Smith told reporters at a news conference Wednesday evening.