Father and Son Face Charges in High School Rampage

Colin and his 14-year-old son Colt Gray faced charges in a Georgia courtroom following a deadly rampage at Apalachee High School. Colt, charged with four counts of murder, and Colin, facing multiple charges, are central to a controversial prosecutorial approach targeting parents of school shooters. This legal tactic gains mixed reactions.

Less than an hour after his 14-year-old son appeared in a Georgia courtroom on murder charges on Friday, Colin Gray found himself in the same courtroom seat, anxiously rocking back and forth as prosecutors accused him of bearing responsibility for the deaths caused by the boy's rampage. The initial appearances by Colin Gray, 54, and Colt Gray, 14, in the Barrow County courtroom came two days after a rampage that killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, a city of 18,000 some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Atlanta. Nine others were wounded.

Colt Gray, a student at the school, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. But prosecutors have also charged the father, who faces up to 180 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.

In bringing charges against the father of the accused gunman, prosecutors are implementing a novel legal approach as the United States grapples with mass gun violence in schools. It is steadily winning support from some survivor groups and state authorities, but critics say the tactic risks prosecutorial overreach and may do little to deter shootings. The Gray case comes on the heels of the April sentencing of the mother and father of a high school shooter in Michigan, believed to be the first time parents were held legally responsible for their children's action in a school shooting.

(With inputs from agencies.)