MATCHING HANDCUFFS:
Prison For Dad As Son Kills Four
Ten days ago, Colin Gray, the father of Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, just two days after his son was sentenced to life for the March shooting at a high school in Winder, Ga. His son killed two teachers, two students, and seriously wounded another teacher and eight students.
HMMM? When did states start charging the parents? Well, it’s been coming for a long time. With increasing gun violence all over the country, law enforcement has begun to require parents to do their jobs, instead of leaving everything up to the police. Indiana’s Child Gun Laws are pretty clear. Parents of child shooters here will find that Indiana is not a lenient state when it comes to issues like those surrounding Colin and Colt Gray.
Clearly, things weren’t great for the boy. He was a distant and disgruntled kid living with his father. His mother was estranged, and he spent his days watching violent videos and programs. He didn’t play sports, didn’t seem to have friends, and he spent his entire eighth grade year at home watching and rewatching the school shooting trial of the Parkland High School shooter, Nikolas Cruz.
Although mental health counseling was obviously needed, his father did nothing. Said the judge, “These are not the reasons you were convicted. You were convicted, because the warning lights were flashing and you did nothing to get him the help he needed, and you didn't remove his access to guns.”
In fact, Gray gave his son the semiautomatic rifle for Christmas, even after police visited their home about online threats his son was making. Gray also neglected to take him to an inpatient psychiatric facility the night before the shootings, even though a bed had been secured for him. According to reports, the teen had been grappling with paranoid delusions for years.
So, good old dad put a gun in his son’s hands, hands that now wear handcuffs to go with his Georgia State prison apparel, which he’ll be wearing for the rest of his life. Meanwhile four people are dead. And, what about Dad? He’s got 15 years ahead of him.
Here are a few more:
Jennifer and James Crumbley, parents of the 15-year-old who killed four people and wounded seven others at a high school in Michigan in 2021, were convicted for failing to secure the gun .
Jeffrey Rupnow, father of the 15-year-old girl who killed two people and wounded six others before killing herself at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin in 2024.
Deja Taylor, mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Newport News, Virginia in 2023, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of using marijuana while owning a gun and felony child neglect.
Robert Crimo Jr., father of the 21-year-old who killed seven people and injured 48 others at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, in 2022. His sentence was 60 days, and two years probation.
Raymond Fryberg, father of the 15-year-old who killed four people and himself at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington, in 2014, was convicted of illegally purchasing and owning the gun used in the shooting.
Also…maybe don't name your son Colt,
Nancy
