‘It is clear you failed as a parent’: Father of school shooter sentenced to 15 years in prison

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. (TCN) -- Days after he sentenced a teenage boy to life in prison for perpetrating a mass shooting at his high school in 2024, a judge has sentenced the shooter’s father to 15 years behind bars.

The Associated Press reports Colin Gray, 55, gave his son, Colt Gray, an AR-15 for Christmas, along with a gun sight and ammunition. Colt Gray, 14 at the time, used those items to commit a mass shooting at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4, 2024. Four people were killed and nine more were injured. 

Shortly before the shooting, Colt Gray’s mother, who was separated from Colin Gray, reportedly asked him to restrict the boy’s access to guns, per the AP.

In March, Colin Gray was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. On July 30, Judge Nicholas Primm, who sentenced Colt Gray to life in prison days earlier, sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years behind bars, per the AP.

At Colin Gray’s sentencing hearing, family members of those killed gave impact statements. According to the AP, Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son was a victim, said, “This wasn’t unavoidable. This was preventable. Because of the choices made inside the Gray household, four families were handed life sentences of grief.”

Primm told Gray, “It is clear you failed as a parent.”

According to WXIA, Gray will be eligible for parole after serving between 65 to 90 percent of his sentence, meaning he will have to serve at least 10 years in prison before being eligible for parole. 

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