The father of the mass shooting suspect accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, is accused of killing two students and two teachers with an AR-style rifle in the Wednesday shooting. Nine more people were hospitalized.
One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present.
So his son was being investigated for making threats to shoot up the school and he decided that the best gift was a gun that could allow his son to act on those threats.
Charging him in connection with the shooting seems appropriate.
“Who could have seen this coming?” -the father probably
I bet physical and/or verbal abuse was abundant in that household, probably spousal abuse as well, up to and including sexual and financial.
No sexual abuse reported, but everything else, yeah.
More red flags than a May Day Parade, like usual.
People don’t agree with what I’m going to say, but nonconsensual *nonmonogamous sexual relationships are physically and emotionally abusive. Physically because they potentially expose the non-consenting to disease, and death by disease. Emotionally and actually financially, because of gaslighting, withholding, gaslighting. And even with laws on the books, all abuse is underreported, and then when it is, there’s the victim blaming mentality, from report to trial, if it makes it that far. *Autocorrect
What are you on about
Reality.
What is the relevance?
Are you saying sexual abuse (as you define in your comment) WAS reported? I’m confused why you’re defining it here.
And even with laws on the books, all abuse is underreported, and then when it is, there’s the victim blaming mentality, from report to trial, if it makes it that far.
???
And what proof do you have of this? If you have any sources please link them.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/signs-of-domestic-abuse-5209419
Cheating is sexual abuse. Anything that does not include noncorerced consent is sexual abuse. It is the partner’s emotional, physical health and life at risk.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/signs-of-domestic-abuse-5209419 notice the wheel.
It’s passive aggressive and it is abusive. If that triggers a cheater, perhaps they should seek a therapist.
I am a survivor and thriver after child abuse and domestic abuse. It was once legal to beat wives as long as the stick wasn’t bigger around than a thumb. It was abusive. It is legal to emotionally abuse people. It is abusive. Spousal rape was once legal. It is abusive. Owning other humans was once legal. It is abusive.
ETA: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/braving-hope/202401/5-things-we-get-wrong-about-cheating
So you actually have zero proof that the guy in this article is an abuser?
What? Please copy and paste where I said that. “I bet”. I also didn’t say “guy,” .I thought you were asking for proof of what I said to Jordanlund, since those with problems were you know, relying to that specific comment. I saw the comment users replied to. Nothing more and nothing less.
You appear to have accidentally responded to a different thread of comments. I mean this genuinely and not sarcastically.
Yup they can go the same route as the Oxford, MI shooter and charge the parents. They got 10 years, if more parents got charged parents might wise up. This sounds 100% the exact same situation. Oxford kids parents told him not to get caught next time when he was in trouble for looking at ammunition during school.
Yeah, this is where I have issue. I grew up around guns and hunting. When I passed my safe hunters I got my first 12 gage shotgun and then got a 410 later that year along with a 50 cal black powder rifle and the. Get a few AR’s and AK/SKS’s along the way. I grew up respecting them and it was a normal part of life. People had gun racks in their trucks with guns in them in high school at the time.
But this kid obviously had issues and they should have been in a safe away from him. I do think holding parents liable with start changing things slowly. I wish it was an over night change but we need to do it more often
Would being charged with crimes your child commits stop dumb fucks from reproducing?
I’d be satisfied if it stopped dumb fucks from buying guns for their dumb fuck kids that already threatened to shoot their classmates.
Daddy is an accessory here. I’m glad he’s being charged.
Nah, the kids are rarely intentional when you’re that stupid.
Still I’m willing to give it a shot! Hey-O!
No. They aren’t thinking the potential long term cost of their own actions, let alone the knock-on effects caused by the actions of their unexamined actions.
Nope. But it might make em think twice before taking their under-6-yr old kids to a bar and shove an iPad in their face while mommy and/or daddy gets sloshed.
I absolutely don’t see an accessory charge at minimum as being too far of a stretch either. Lock both of them up.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think children should own guns.
But but the real issue is them being exposed to drag queens!
imagine how much worse this would be if the child in question went to drag time story hour instead of being given a killing machine! /s
Drag queen story times are of the devil! ( The Christians say while attending church where someone dresses up and reads stories).
he gifted him a gun to protect him from school shooting. that’s right-wing logic
I was gonna write a witty but bleak reply to this but I’m not gonna. Have a nice day
Did he think the kid was going to carry it around the school all day every day? Did he know that school shootings tend to happen … in schools?
Call me crazy, but I don’t think civilians should own AR-15s
And they were designed and marketed for civilian use. Imagine if it’s legal to purchase military grade assault rifles.
I grew up in a rural area with just my mom. We had two handguns and a shotgun hidden in the house. Anytime we went walking in the pasture a gun came with us in case of snakes or wild dogs and a couple of times per year i was required to shoot at cans with each one. I wasn’t interested in them and didn’t like shooting them, but understood her desire for me to feel comfortable using them ‘just in case’. We often took long road trips to visit family and would stop to nap in rest areas for a few hours. The small handgun was always beside the driver’s seat. It was the 70s and early 80s and nothing was locked. 22 in the nightstand drawer, 38 in a dresser drawer, and shotgun behind her bedroom door - all loaded and ready. It didn’t seem weird; it was just what my mom did to try to keep us safe.
Not everybody is fortunate to have responsibility and be mentally sane. Even the father in this case probably told the kid the to dos and not to dos of owning a gun (or not. Idk man). But you know, all this happened.
Yeah. I don’t really know why i shared all of that. Just struggling to make sense of something senseless, i guess. i visit several schools per day and we all whine about the inconvenience of badge fobs, locked classrooms, being required to put the alert app on our phones and then having it constantly going off all day with every drill at every school, etc. Then when something like this happens i feel shitty for whining, heartbroken for those families, and thankful that it wasn’t my schools, teachers, kids, … It sucks. And the worst part is that we know it will happen again and again. Rambling…sorry.
You are just showing sympathy toward others. That’s okay.
Yeah all good man. I definitely appreciated your story. I also think that responsible citizens should be able to carry. We shouldn’t be handing guns to untrained maniacs out here. Ideally, your family would be a shining example of how to be responsible gun owners.
Why these people giving weapons to their kids before they’re even in high school?
I could see if you’re really into guns and you want to teach your kid the importance of gun safety, etc. But that firearm should 110% be under lock and key so that the child has no way to access it outside of parental supervision. This sounds like gross negligence, and a disturbing trend of parents for whatever reason buying troubled youth firearms in what I think most would consider counter to good judgement.
Edit - Ugh… It’s even worse after reading this part…
The timeline the teen’s father provided to authorities would put the gun purchase months after authorities first contacted Gray and his family to investigate school shooting threats made online.
If your kid is really into guns, then buy them a bb gun for fucks sake. Teach them gun safety with something that won’t kill anyone. What kind of brain dead parents are out there thinking that buying a child a gun is a good idea? THE KID’S NOT EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE FFS
You know… This whole gun thing. You’re on to something. Some people are absolutely brain dead and have no critical thinking skills. That’s what scares me about guns. Even with the argument that guns are just tools. Have you looked around America and seen the types of people that exist? Now imagine them all owning guns.
Fucking scary.
Should be illegal to buy a child a gun until they are 18. You can 2A all you want about defending the country but you fuckers ain’t gonna tell me you will have a child in your militia. Can’t drive until 16, can’t smoke until 18, can’t drink until 21 but you can go out and fire deadly weapons whenever your parents say it’s cool.
you fuckers ain’t gonna tell me you will have a child in your militia
“We absolutely will.” -Conservatives
If they can work in meat processors, they can join the militia.
/s
21 now to smoke.
And hopefully they keep charging the parents. Got kids? Got firearms? They better be locked in a safe and only the parent should know the code…some people are dumb as fuck.
I didn’t know childproof door locks were so serious now adays.
Why these people giving weapons to their kids after the sheriff first contacted you to investigate school shooting threats your kid made online,
I think part of the reason for this is that you have a lot of these dipshit parents who see headlines like this and think “the LiBeRaLs are going to use this week’s school shooting as justification for taking our guns; I’ll show them, I’ll give my children guns and be the proof that guns aren’t the problem”. At least, with how often I see the sentiment of “well my kids have guns and haven’t killed anybody” across social media, that’s my assumption.
They all think they’re responsible gun owners. And maybe some of them are. Hell, maybe most of them are. But a non-zero amount aren’t, and we need to have safeguards in place instead of “nothing we can do but pray for stronger doors on the schools”.
Except responsible gun owners wouldn’t buy their child a gun and give them access to it whenever they please. Any firearms I may or may not possess would be locked in a safe which no one but any spouse I may hypothetically have had access to. Unfortunately I lost all my firearms in a tragic boating accident a few years back.
What I’m trying to say is that, while the government shouldn’t be allowed to come check that people have their guns locked up when not in use, there should absolutely be repercussions for anyone found to not be doing so.
Why giving waepons to a child at all?
People like this put the “toxic” in toxic masculinity. “Oh, my son is having a hard time maturing and posted school shooting threats online? He just needs to grow up, firearms will help with that!”
Can we please get gun reform yet!? This doesn’t happen in other countries…
My dad gave me a gun for one of my earlier birthdays. It was a bolt action .22 that went right into a gun safe that I couldn’t access…It was a pretty shitty present as I didn’t enjoy hunting at the time but in retrospect I’m glad I learned gun safety and shooting.
Why the fuck would you buy a 14 year old an AR15 style rifle, especially after he already had a history of making school shooting threats at school? Dude deserves prison for a long time.
Respecting a gun as a deadly weapon makes you a pussy. Your gun is like your dick, only better because you can buy a really big one instead of being stuck with what nature gave you.
One thing I learned in the Army was someone always has a bigger gun. So it’s what you do with the one you have that matters. After all, men have captured entire trenches with nothing but a pistol; while the guys with the big guns spent weeks pounding away to no satisfaction.
(I see the door but I’m not leaving until I finish this beer. Any attempts to force me will result in more punishment)
I hate when guys with big guns are pounding away but getting no satisfaction
Makes for great video though. All those batteries lined up, and firing their shots.
Welp, send the man to jail for aiding and abetting murder.
He has, in fact, been arrested.
Fuck yeah!
My pragmatic side is absolutely disgusted with this - why would you gift a gun to your kid while living in an urban area? It makes no practical sense other than fueling this weird American obsession with guns.
I understand giving your teen kid a hunting rifle if you live in a rural area and go hunting sometimes, but not an AR in a city - it’s just asking for trouble.
My fourteen year has a few guns. 20 gauge single shot break barrel, .410 single shot break barrel, bolt action .22 rifle and a single action .22 revolver. (Single action revolvers are the really old school kind where you have to cock the hammer each time it shoots. It’s a damn big revolver as well, good luck concealing it.) They are used for varmint control and hunting. The revolver is great for rat shot and he has taken quite a few gophers with it. He understands what guns do and how they cause death.
We hunt, fish, camp, kayak, live on a tiny farm.
I don’t own an AR, don’t have use for one at this time. Giving a kid an AR and uncontrolled access to it in an urban environment is nucking futz. My son has access to his guns because I trust him to safely and respectfully use them. He also has been trained in their proper use since he was 7 or 8.
I support these use cases, but I still disagree with open access. He shows his untrained friend, and now you’re liable for their death. He becomes clinically depressed and now he has a method for suicide. It’s just not worth the risk.
Why? He’s not as big into hunting like me, but will kill varmints when necessary and has done so when I’m not home so his mother didn’t have to.
I used to go hunting alone when I was his age.
He’s mentally stable, well adjusted. He views guns as tools, as do I. He also has a rolling toolbox with $1k of tools in it. He put in so much work this summer that a full toolbox was part of how I rewarded him.
Now, if there was depression, threats, suicidal tendencies, etc.: totally different situation.
Guns aren’t a masculinity fetish for us, they’re just another tool. Guns and other power tools are fun to play with as long as you understand the safety and proper use of them.
I’m in the market for a chainsaw, I’ll be getting chaps to go with it. He’ll also be trained in the use of the chainsaw and have open access to it.
I’ve also been teaching him how to drive and he can’t get a permit until he’s 16.
He uses dangerous tools regularly. More and more, he does so without my direct supervision.
A chainsaw’s primary use is to cut through wood. A car’s primary use is to travel from point A to B. A gun’s primary use is to kill. Again, I very much support the training and use cases, but that’s why I’m against open access without an issued permit.
He also has open access to rat poison.
… that’s why I’m against open access without an issued permit.
I’m guessing you’re not from the US? Permits aren’t issued for such a thing. As far as I know, permits are only issued for concealed carry outside of one’s property. There are hunting licenses, but that that doesn’t really factor in to gun access.
Given the smaller calibers and slow fire rates of the guns he has access to, the purpose of his guns is not man killing. They’re for varmints and such.
I keep going back to the tool definition of guns. In the US, most people seem to no longer view guns as tools. They are scary or empowering magic objects that cause great fear or act as a male enhancement device depending on political views.
IDK, this society is sick this shooting is a symptom. People’s knee jerk reactions to guns on both sides is a symptom. Kids get caught in the middle in the meat grinder.
And what would you do if the police showed up to politely talk about your kid making school shooting threats online?
The relevant bit from the article, that they buried-
The timeline the teen’s father provided to authorities would put the gun purchase months after authorities first contacted Gray and his family to investigate school shooting threats made online.
That’s kind of the point I’m trying to make. There’s a healthy way for kids to have and use guns, but it certainly isn’t this.
America has so warped its perception of guns that they’re now some sort of male enhancement device and tied into people’s identity.
This is probably a somewhat idealized view of the past, but I would think most Americans of the past viewed guns primarily as tool instead of as a supplementary cock.
Those people have no business owning a gun. I fully support some sort of gun control. Even more than that, public healthcare including mental healthcare would go a long way towards reducing shootings like this.
If the cops showed up to talk to me about my kid making threats, I would very politely listen to them without saying much or incriminating any of us. I’d check in with his teachers, get their side. Then I’d almost certainly lock up every gun, most of the knives and get him to a shrink. If we could afford it, we’d be looking into inpatient therapy.
A big chunk of this country, for all intents and purposes, has gone permanently insane. They’re a danger to themselves and others. Doesn’t seem to be any fixing it anytime soon.
It pisses me off. I often feel like suburban wannabe tuff guys are trying to ape masculinity and they end up cosplaying as me. Do they feel like real big boys now?
I know exactly what you mean and I figured that would be your answer. I just wanted it out there so people could see just how far out of normal this gun culture is. I carried a lot of guns in the military and while they were fun, having to use them outside of training was very not fun. I’ve also seen first-hand why having a gun in the house increases risk of death, specifically for veterans like me. I hate this idea of guns as a fashion accessory or as you say, extra manliness cosplay. If we’re going to have them they need to be highly regulated tools. Not freely available toys.
I’ve also seen first-hand why having a gun in the house increases risk of death, specifically for veterans like me.
There’s that whole healthcare, including mental healthcare, thing again. “Here kid, take this gun and go kill people for 'Murica, like protect our freedoms or whatever. What, you want healthcare now that you’re back home and fucked up? Fuck you, go to the VA and take a number.” That shit is fucked and I’ve hung with several fucked up veterans. Poor bastards didn’t sign up for that shit.
I hope I never ever have to shoot at a person.
Gun culture shouldn’t even be a thing like it is. At most, it should be like car culture or something.
I enjoy my guns but I also love a lot of my other tools. I’ve got a 1944 or earlier Atlas lathe I restored, a '98 Ford Ranger that I keep running tight. I’m currently working on a '69 Wheel Horse mini tractor. I’ve got a caliper from 1856. I’ve got an assortment of knives that I use for various things, most of them in carbon steel.
Gun culture should be a subset of tool culture, not this insane identity political religion shit that we have now.
I can only agree so hard.
I grew up in rural WV. We were given a Ruger 10/22 for our 10th birthday. Now it was in my father’s locked gun cabinet and I couldn’t just go get it when I wanted but it was mine. We’d take it plinking in the woods on the weekend sometimes. Well when he wasn’t shit faced drunk but I digress …
Some people see gun usage as a sporting activity. Go out and hit some targets, see how fast, or precise you can be, it’s also fun to just blast things. I could easily see a family that shoots together gifting their child an AR pattern rifle after they got used to shooting mom’s or dad’s firearm. It gives them their own platform to customize and practice on, akin to a musical instrument.
That being said, I think it should take a lot more trust, awareness, and scrutiny from the parents, which was clearly missing in this case. This is more like giving the keys for your Dodge Pickup to your teen when they are absolutely hammered.
Comparing a gun to a musical instrument is peak American lmao
Tchaikovsky used a cannon as a musical instrument.
If that’s how you want to read in to it, sure. It less about a gun being as safe, or as socially acceptable, a more about the psychological satisfaction granted from striving to perfect your usage of a tool. I could make the same comparisons to carpentry, archery, cooking, go-karting, golfing…etc.
After police talked to you about the kid having made online threats to do a school shooting.
He knew. And he gave him a gun anyways. I hope he gets convicted and sued into the ground.
I was gifted a shotgun at 15. It was a double barrel break action shotgun from my grandmother.
I kept it in a gun rack my grandfather left me hanging on my wall. I never had issues, but if one of my friends wanted access, it probably could have been stolen.
Lock up your guns.
it’s odd that they used “holiday present” in the headline, but the article says-
One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present.
it’s like they didn’t want christmas in the same headline as the mass shooting or something?
For most news publications, the article and the headline are written by different people.
If you can Ban someone from buying their CHILD a GUN after that Child makes THREATS TO SHOOT UP HIS SCHOOL that’s SOCIALISM! SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!
Child soldiers are an essential bulwark against government tyranny!
Is he named Colt after the gun?
Maybe the beer.
Don’t bring Billy Dee into this
AR-15-style
Sociopaths raising a sociopath. We have to stop the race to the bottom, triggering people isn’t cool, it has serious repercussions, as noted in presidential races, even.
Anyone got a list of AR-15 style guns? I have no idea why they can’t just say what it is and leave all the AR-15 shit out. I mean I know why they do it, it just sucks.
Yea for liberal news every gun is an AR-15 and for conservative news every brown person is MS-13. Both are really dumb.
deleted by creator
Well, now I know why the dad has been arrested on second degree murder and a whole slew of charges.
trash deserves to be thrown out :)
Did they really name him after a gun too?
Many guns are named after people who distributed, produced, or designed them.
So he is a guy named after a gun that was named after a guy.
My father also bought me a gun as a birthday present as a teenager, and looking back it was wholly inappropriate and dangerous. Granted, I never had thoughts of killing people.
Were you always in possession of it, or did he keep it properly stored until he took you shooting?
I had a shotgun and .223 in the back window gun rack of my truck through middle school and high school (started driving at 14 with a school permit) with shells and rounds in the glove box. Nothing was ever locked where I grew up either; homes, vehicles, businesses.
Granted I grew up in a town with under 1,000 people and the closest ‘city’ to us was an hour away and had a population of 25k.
That was forty years ago and I feel a lot differently about things and the world is a different place but when I grew up more students and teachers had guns in their vehicles at school than didn’t. Everyone hunted, I pulled off and shot a coyote in pack that was stalking around one of my teachers herd of cows on the way to school one winter. I took the coyote into class and gave it to him since I had him first period.
I totally get it. My dad is from a town like that, if not smaller. Place I’m from isn’t a lot bigger, but it definitely wasn’t like his. They probably still carry hunting rifles to school. They get like a week off for deer hunting season because they wouldn’t show anyways
That just gave me some deep seated nostalgia, I forgot how much I enjoyed that week off of school we’d get. I feel so out of place trying to get my sons raised up sometimes. My entire grade size was never over 37 and that was with five combined towns going to the same school. We live in a town of fifty thousand people in a different state and everything feels so big to me even though I’ve lived here nearly twenty years. Anytime I’ve stayed in a real city for more than a night or two my anxiety goes into overdrive, I don’t know how people do it.
I’m right there with you friend. Pretty similar situations minus the children
And people wonder why criminals in the US have so ready access to firearms. In some areas, just steal a truck, and get a shitload of material to commit crimes for free!
I was in possession of it, but he kept the ammo “hidden” on top of a cabinet.
I was also gifted firearms as a child. They were kept inside a locked safe that I didn’t have the combination for when not being used for hunting or target shooting. As much as I enjoy guns, hunting, and shooting, I can also see that responsibility goes beyond “it’s guaranteed in the constitution” or equivalent bullshit.
A teenager’s brain chemistry is rapidly changing due to hormones, etc. I remember a couple days when I was about 14 where I became massively depressed for no apparent reason, just likely a temporary chemical imbalance in my brain. If I had a gun, who knows what I would have done.
Americans need to analyze their views surrounding guns. And take their time. It’s mind-blowing to try to make them understand guns are risky, regardless of handling, trigger discipline, or any other bullshit they tell themselves. The mere existence of guns is dangerous, the bigger the number of guns out there is the amount of accidents, shootings and massacres waiting to happen out there.
It’s funny (in a sad way) how people who frequent shooting ranges - which usually have very strict rules regarding firearm discipline and handling safety - are fine with allowing every schmuck in the world to walk around packing. If that shit is so important on a gun range, why would it be unimportant out in the world?
Let me analyze this for a minute… Nope not giving up my rights because criminals can’t control themselves from committing crimes.
Who have you been talking to? 80 percent of Americans want gun control laws like a universal background check. For a general question of more strict laws support is at 60 percent.
Here’s a former Supreme Court judge saying the conservatives have hijacked the second amendment and we in response we should repeal it.
Washington Post reports that around that same period 21 percent of Americans were ready to repeal it.
We’re out here, and we’re pissed. We just get angrier every time time we see a headline and every time it turns out that common sense gun laws were subverted by people in authority.
