Apalachee High School shooter’s dad sentenced to 15 years

A Georgia judge has sentenced Colin Gray, the father of convicted school shooter Colt Gray, to 15 years in prison after finding him criminally responsible for providing the firearm used in the deadly 2024 Apalachee High School shooting.

Colin Gray was convicted in March on multiple charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, for giving his son a rifle as a Christmas gift despite earlier police investigations into the teenager over alleged school shooting threats.

Prosecutors argued that Gray ignored clear warning signs before gifting the weapon, which was later used in the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School in Georgia.

Authorities said Colt Gray used the rifle to kill two students and two staff members, while several other people were injured in the shooting. Handing down the sentence on Thursday, the judge told Colin Gray: “The weight of your crimes is tethered and tied to the acts of someone else, your son.”

The sentencing comes a week after Colt Gray pleaded guilty to 55 felony charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for carrying out the attack.