The teenager accused of shooting dead two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school will appear in court for the first time on Friday to face murder charges, hours after his father was arrested on suspicion of facilitating the shootings by allowing his son to possess a deadly weapon.
Two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News Thursday night that Colin Gray, 54, gave his son an AR-15 style rifle as a gift.
Colt Gray, 14, is due to appear via video link at Barrow County Superior Court in Winder from 8.30 a.m. ET. He will remain at the Gainesville Youth Detention Center.
Gray is also accused of wounding nine others in the shooting spree at Apalachee High School in Winder.Â
He is being treated as an adult and is charged with four counts of felony murder.
His father, Colin Gray, was arrested Thursday and faces 14 charges, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He was booked into Barrow County Jail.
He gifted his son the weapon after the pair were interviewed by law enforcement officials in May 2023 in connection with reported online threats to carry out a school shooting, the two law enforcement sources said.
Colt Gray was not arrested after that interview because he could not be tied to an online account that made the threats, legal documents show.
It also emerged Thursday that Coly Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, was arrested in 2023 on family violence charges. Court records from Barrow County show that she pleaded guilty in December to one count each of second-degree criminal damage of property and criminal trespass-family violence.
A sentencing record also ordered Marcee Gray to have no contact with Colin Gray, except through a third party and on matters that involved the children or a divorce.