Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray made his first court appearance on Friday after he was accused of brutally killing two students and two teachers at his high school, followed shortly by his father.
The alleged 14-year-old shooter, dressed in a green prison uniform, had a brief bail hearing in Barrow County Court after being charged as an adult with four counts of murder in Wednesday's rampage at Apalachee High School.
The boy, who is being held at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, stared straight ahead, his face hidden by his shaggy blond hair, as the judge announced his potential sentence.
The defendant was then handcuffed at the wrists and ankles and led out of the courtroom after his lawyer refused to grant him bail.
His father, Collin Gray, 54, appeared in the same court minutes later and was charged with several offences, including providing the AR-15 rifle allegedly used in the massacre.
As the judge told him he could face up to 180 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the father closed his eyes and swayed in his chair.
Grieving relatives of at least one of the victims sat in the front row of the courtroom during the double hearing, and at one point were seen crying and clutching stuffed toys.
The baby-faced boy is accused of killing four people and wounding nine others during a rampage at a school in the Atlanta suburb of Winder on Wednesday morning.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told CNN that the suspect was taken into custody just minutes after he allegedly shot and killed the victim, and told investigators “I did it” during subsequent questioning.
Investigators have yet to reveal a motive for the bloody attack.
Investigators said authorities first visited the suspect's home in May 2023 after he made threats on social media about a school shooting, but they are still working to determine whether there were any additional warning signs after that.
Meanwhile, Gray's father has also been charged in connection to the shooting.
The father allegedly bought Colt an AR-style assault rifle as a Christmas gift just months after police interviewed the couple about the online threats, law enforcement sources told The Washington Post.
“His charges are directly related to his son's actions and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said.
His son has been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the deaths of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall and 53-year-old Christina Irimy.
