Apalachee school shooting: Father of shooter sentenced to 15 years in prison

Apalachee school shooting: Father of shooter sentenced to 15 years in prison

A Georgia man who provided his son with the rifle used to kill two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School was sentenced Thursday, July 30, 2026, to 15 years in prison. Colin Gray, 55, received that sentence on each of the 27 counts he was convicted of in March, with Judge Nicholas Primm ordering the terms to run concurrently.

The sentencing follows the legal resolution of the case involving the shooter, Colt Gray. Earlier this week, Colt Gray, now 16, pleaded guilty to 55 counts and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Sept. 4, 2024, attack at the school, located northeast of Atlanta.

Judge Primm told the elder Gray, It is clear you failed as a parent, noting that the defendant was convicted because the warning lights were flashing brighter and brighter and he neither sought help for his son nor removed his access to firearms.

The convictions and the crime

A jury found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of 14-year-old students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn. Under Georgia law, second-degree murder is defined as causing a child's death by committing cruelty to children. He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the killings of teachers Cristina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, as well as multiple counts of cruelty to children and reckless conduct.

Prosecutors established that Colin Gray gave his son the semi-automatic rifle as a Christmas gift, including ammunition, a gun sight, and other accessories. According to testimony from Barrow County Sheriff's Office Investigator Jason Smith, Colt Gray carried the rifle onto the school bus wrapped in poster board with the barrel protruding. The teenager eventually left a second-period class, entered a bathroom, and emerged to open fire in a classroom and the hallway.

The attack left 11 people injured, including another teacher and eight students, seven of whom were hit by gunfire.

Warning signs and familial conflict

Evidence presented during the proceedings indicated that Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, showed signs of deteriorating mental health. An investigator testified that the teenager had more than a dozen photos of Nikolas Cruz—the perpetrator of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre—on his bedroom wall and belonged to an online true crime community obsessed with mass shooters.

Marcee Gray, the shooter's mother and Colin Gray's estranged wife, told investigators she had argued with her husband weeks before the shooting, urging him to secure his guns and restrict their son's access.

However, prosecutors detailed a different dynamic between Marcee Gray and her son after the shooting. Recordings of phone calls played during the teenager's sentencing hearing revealed the two discussing his online notoriety. Marcee Gray described fan art of her son posted online as awesome and extremely cute. Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith called Marcee Gray disgusting, but prosecutors stated they lacked cause to bring charges against her due to her limited contact with the son before the attack.

Courtroom arguments and precedents

The sentencing phase featured a sharp divide in requested penalties. District Attorney Brad Smith argued that Colin Gray deserved 80 years in prison, asserting that he ignored a substantial and unjustifiable risk by giving his son the exact tool needed to commit a mass shooting. Defense attorney Brian Hobbs requested 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation.

Hobbs argued that the teenager actively hid the depth of his involvement in the online community and that the red flags were surrounded by moments of a child who played guitar and loved video games. Hobbs suggested that giving the father a sentence similar to the actual killer would erase the legal line between intended harm and a failure to prevent harm.

The case mirrors a growing trend of holding parents criminally liable for their children's school attacks. The judge noted the similarity to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan, where Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to 10-year terms for involuntary manslaughter after gifting their son a gun. Judge Primm noted that while Colin Gray did not pull the trigger, he could have locked the guns or kept ammunition out of the house.

Victim impact

Families of the deceased urged the court to impose the maximum sentence. Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son was killed, stated, This wasn’t unavoidable. This was preventable.

Shayna Aspinwall, widow of Richard Aspinwall, testified that she suffers from PTSD and can no longer teach, leaving her as a solo parent to two daughters. She stated that while Colin Gray did not pull the trigger, he purchased and left a firearm accessible to a minor.

Following the announcement of the 15-year sentence, Judge Primm told the victims' families, This only closes the legal chapter for this horror. The pain, the heartache, they continue.