GUILTY: Dad Bought AR-15 for Son After FBI Warning

A wooden gavel next to a yellow speech bubble that says 'Found Guilty' — GUILTY VERDICT

A Georgia father has been convicted of second-degree murder for gifting his troubled teenage son an AR-15-style rifle—a weapon the boy allegedly used to slaughter four innocent people at his high school, marking a watershed moment in holding parents criminally accountable for ignoring deadly warning signs.

Story Highlights

Colin Gray was convicted of second-degree murder after gifting son an AR-15 despite a prior FBI investigation for school shooting threats
Colt Gray, 14 at the time of the attack, killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School on September 4, 2024
Jury deliberated for less than two hours, finding father ignored son’s obsession with Parkland shooter and mental health decline
First U.S. parent convicted of murder—not just manslaughter—in child’s school shooting, setting legal precedent nationwide

Ignored Warnings and a Deadly Gift

Colin Gray purchased an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle for his 14-year-old son, Colt, as a Christmas present in 2023, months after federal authorities investigated the boy for making online threats about a school shooting.

The FBI and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office interviewed both father and son in May 2023 following Discord posts threatening violence, but Colin assured investigators his guns were secured, and Colt had no unsupervised access.

Despite these assurances and the disturbing investigation, Colin proceeded to gift the weapon with stipulations tied to his son’s school performance, demonstrating a reckless disregard for the glaring red flags surrounding his troubled child’s mental state and violent fixations.

Tragedy Unfolds at Apalachee High School

On September 4, 2024, at approximately 9:45 a.m., Colt Gray exited his algebra class at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, retrieved the rifle from his backpack with the barrel concealed in poster board, and opened fire in classrooms and hallways.

The 14-year-old freshman killed two students and two teachers while injuring nine others before surrendering to school resource officers by 10:23 a.m. The attack devastated the 1,900-student school community located roughly 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Prosecutors revealed that Colt maintained a disturbing shrine to Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, whose 2018 massacre killed 17 people, underscoring the teenager’s obsession with mass violence that his father willfully ignored despite multiple warnings from family and authorities.

Father who gave gun to Georgia school shooting suspect for Christmas is guilty of 2nd-degree murderhttps://t.co/Jq00yudhCl

— Larry O. Dean (@larryodean) March 3, 2026

Landmark Murder Conviction Holds Father Accountable

After a two-week trial concluding March 3, 2026, a jury convicted Colin Gray of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and cruelty to children in less than two hours of deliberation. This marks the first time in U.S. history a parent has been convicted of murder—rather than lesser charges like manslaughter—for a child’s school shooting rampage.

Colin testified that his son was a “good kid” and claimed no one could foresee “that evil,” showing little emotion as the verdict was read and he was handcuffed in court. Prosecutors successfully argued Colin ignored sufficient warnings including the FBI investigation, his ex-wife Marcee’s pleas to secure firearms, and their son’s deteriorating mental health and fascination with previous school shooters.

Failures in Georgia’s Gun Laws Enabled Access

Georgia’s permissive firearms regulations played a critical role in this preventable tragedy, as the state imposes no safe-storage requirements for weapons and demands no permits for semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 Colin purchased for his son.

This legislative failure allowed a father under federal scrutiny to legally arm a troubled teenager who had already attracted FBI attention for threatening a school shooting. The case exposes how lax state gun laws undermine common-sense protections that could prevent weapons from reaching dangerous individuals, particularly minors exhibiting clear warning signs of violence.

While the conviction sets a powerful legal precedent for parental accountability, it simultaneously highlights the urgent need for states like Georgia to implement basic safeguards—such as mandatory secure storage and background checks—that respect Second Amendment rights while protecting innocent lives from foreseeable harm.

A Georgia man who gave his teenage son the gun he’s accused of using to kill two students and two teachers at a high school was convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter Tuesday. https://t.co/4v40UUQ9am

— fox8news (@fox8news) March 3, 2026

Colin Gray now awaits sentencing on all counts, while his son Colt, now 16, faces 55 counts including murder as an adult, with a status hearing scheduled for mid-March 2026. The families of victims, including student Christian Angulo and the two murdered teachers, continue grieving as the Winder community struggles with trauma from an attack that proper parental oversight and responsible gun ownership could have prevented.

This landmark conviction sends a clear message: parents who enable violence through negligent firearm access will face serious criminal consequences, potentially reshaping how courts nationwide address parental culpability in school shootings and reinforcing the fundamental principle that gun ownership demands responsibility, vigilance, and accountability to protect our children and communities.