Father who gave son rifle used in high school shooting found guilty of murder

A man has been convicted of murder and manslaughter after giving a semi-automatic, assault-style rifle to his teenage son, who is accused of using it to kill two high school students and two teachers.

Colin Gray was found guilty of second-degree murder over the deaths of the two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, in the shootings at Apalachee High School in Winder, northeast Atlanta, in 2024.

He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the killings of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Another teacher, and eight more students, were wounded in the mass shooting that Mr Gray's teenage son Colt has been accused of.

The teen's mother, Marcee Gray, had testified she had urged his father to take any guns and lock them inside his truck so their son, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, could not access them.

The couple had separated in the months leading up to the shooting.

Gray is one of a number of parents prosecuted after their children were accused in fatal shootings across the US.

Prosecutors said he gave his son access to a gun and ammunition "after receiving sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger the bodily safety of another".

The father was also convicted of multiple counts of reckless conduct and cruelty to children. His son has been indicted on a total of 55 counts including murder.

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The teen has pleaded not guilty with a hearing scheduled for mid-March.

Investigators allege he carefully planned the attack on September 4, two years ago, at the school attended by 1,900 students.

He boarded a school bus with the semiautomatic, assault-style rifle in his book bag with the barrel sticking out and wrapped in poster board, they added.

After leaving his second-period class, he allegedly emerged from a bathroom with the weapon, and shot people in a classroom and hallways.

Colin Gray had given him the gun as a Christmas present and allowed his son to have access to it, despite his awareness that the boy's mental health had deteriorated, a prosecutor said.

(c) Sky News 2026: Father who gave son rifle used in high school shooting found guilty of murder