WASHINGTON: A man whose teenage son shot dead four people at a US high school was found guilty of murder and manslaughter on Tuesday in a rare case of a parent charged over a shooting carried out by their child.

Colin Gray, 55, was convicted by a jury in Georgia of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and other offenses in connection with the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School by his troubled son Colt.

Two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed and nine people wounded in the shooting in Winder, Georgia. Colt Gray, who was 14 then and is now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a trial date.

During opening arguments of the two-week trial of the father, prosecutors said he bought Colt Gray the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting for Christmas 2023 despite warnings that his son had threatened to carry out a school shooting. According to the FBI, sheriffs interviewed the then 13-year-old Gray and his father in May 2023 after receiving anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting.

“This case is about this defendant and his actions, allowing a child that he has custody over access to a firearm and ammunition after being warned that that child was going to harm others,” Barrow County district attorney Brad Smith said.

Defence attorney Brian Hobbs told the jury that Colin Gray was unaware of his son’s intentions and had sought help for his deteriorating mental health.

Published in Dawn, March 4, 2026