Georgia father sentenced to 15 years for giving son rifle used in 2024 school shooting

A Barrow County superior court judge sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years in prison for supplying the rifle his son used in the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Gray was found guilty of second-degree murder for the deaths of two students and involuntary manslaughter for the killings of two teachers after a jury concluded he had gifted the assault-style weapon to his son, then 14, as a Christmas present.

During the hearing, Judge Nicholas Primm said the offenses were “crimes of negligence tethered to the tragedy committed by his son.” He added that, despite personal anguish, the law required an objective sentencing approach.

“My heart aches for everyone that was there that day, for all of you that have been impacted by it,” Primm said.

The son, 16-year-old Colton Gray, had earlier been sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to 55 counts, including the murders of teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Prosecutors argued that Gray’s father ignored a “substantial and unjustifiable risk” by providing the firearm, noting the teenager’s fascination with previous mass-shooting cases and his possession of ammunition, a gun sight and other accessories.

Family members of the victims testified, describing the tragedy as preventable and blaming parental negligence. The case is among a small number of U.S. prosecutions of parents whose children carried out school shootings.