Charges against father of Georgia school shooter reminiscent of Crumbley case

(CBS DETROIT) – The father of the 14-year-old defendant Murder of two students and two teachers at a high school in Georgia was charged in connection with the shooting. His indictment follows the conviction of two Michigan parents following a school shooting committed by their child.

Charges have been brought against Colin Gray, 54 with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse in the shooting that occurred Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School. The 14-year-old suspect was accused of quadruple murder.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said the charges stem from Colin Gray's “knowing permission for his son to possess a gun.” The father was in court on Friday morningwhere a judge informed him that if convicted on all counts, he could face up to 180 years in prison.

Shooting suspect's father faces charges after James and Jennifer Crumbley were killed in historic case. sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison They are the first parents in the USA to be convicted of manslaughter. Their child had committed a school shooting.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were nominated for their roles in the Shooting at Oxford High School in which four students – Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana – were killed and seven others injured on November 30, 2021.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that Crumbley's parents ignored their son's mental health issues and purchased the gun he used in the shooting.

Oakland County District Attorney Karen McDonald, who served as prosecutor in the Crumbley case, setting a precedent for prosecuting parents in mass school shootings, reacted to the news that charges had been filed against the Georgia suspect's father in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

“I react with anger because you know the charges against the Crumbleys were never intended to be a barrage of charges against the parents because it was such an egregious set of facts,” McDonald said. “I share the feelings of the entire country that we are still here despite this highly publicized case.”

Former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Rick Convertino, who appeared on CBS News Detroit to discuss the Apalachee shooting before it was announced that charges had been filed against the shooter's father, pointed to the differences between gun laws in Georgia and Michigan, claiming that “gun culture” is different in Georgia than in Michigan. Georgia passed a law in 2022 allowing residents to carry guns without a permitwhich means adults do not need a permit to purchase or carry rifles, shotguns or handguns.

One of the biggest differences, Convertino said, is gun storage laws. “In Georgia, there is no specific child protection law that requires guns to be stored securely and children do not have unrestricted access to them,” Convertino said.

Georgia also has no gun lock laws or “red flag” laws, which allow someone to take away their gun if they are found to be a danger to themselves or others. Georgia's laws are among the least strict in the country. According to an analysis by CBS News.

“We saw that this 14-year-old shooter had made threats a year earlier. The father apparently told police he bought the AR weapon as a Christmas present for his minor child,” Kris Brown, president of the gun control organization Brady, told CBS News' Natalie Brand, drawing a parallel to the Crumbley case.

Brown said the arrest of Colin Gray and the convictions of James and Jennifer Crumbley sent a message.

“If you have a firearm at home, you better keep it safe or you risk being prosecuted in the event of an incident,” she said.

Michigan's new gun safety laws went into effect in February, just over two years after the Oxford High School shooting.

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