Poppy Bilderbeck
The father of the 14-year-old suspected of the Georgia high school shooting has been arrested and faces multiple charges.
On September 4, authorities were called to Apalachee High School in Winder, Barrow County over reports of an active shooter.
Nine people have been reported injured with two pupils - 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall - having sadly passed away.
A 14-year-old named Colt Gray was arrested on suspicion of the shooting, set to be tried as an adult.
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It was later revealed the teenager had been interviewed back in May 2023 by the FBI after authorities received anonymous reports someone was making 'online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time'.
Gray was interviewed, alongside his father, the BBC reports, but the teenager denied making the online threats and was subsequently not arrested at the time.
The FBI said in a statement: "The father stated that he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them[...] At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels."
Instead, local schools were 'alerted' for 'continued monitoring of the subject'.
Investigators report the younger Gray carried out the school shooting using a semiautomatic rifle or 'AR platform style weapon,' The Guardian states.
Following the teenager's arrest, his father, Colin Cray, 54, has also been arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took to Twitter yesterday (September 5) to reveal Colin Gray had been arrested 'in connection to the shooting at Apalachee High School' and charged with 'four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children'.
Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Chris Hosey, told reporters last night: "His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon.
"What are we facing? Heartbreak. A young person brought a gun into a school, committed an evil act and took lives, and injured people not just physically but mentally."
UNILAD has contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for comment.
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