The father of the mass shooting suspect accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, is accused of killing two students and two teachers with an AR-style rifle in the Wednesday shooting. Nine more people were hospitalized.

One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present.

  • TipRing@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    So his son was being investigated for making threats to shoot up the school and he decided that the best gift was a gun that could allow his son to act on those threats.

    Charging him in connection with the shooting seems appropriate.

    • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yup they can go the same route as the Oxford, MI shooter and charge the parents. They got 10 years, if more parents got charged parents might wise up. This sounds 100% the exact same situation. Oxford kids parents told him not to get caught next time when he was in trouble for looking at ammunition during school.

    • Pacmanlives@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, this is where I have issue. I grew up around guns and hunting. When I passed my safe hunters I got my first 12 gage shotgun and then got a 410 later that year along with a 50 cal black powder rifle and the. Get a few AR’s and AK/SKS’s along the way. I grew up respecting them and it was a normal part of life. People had gun racks in their trucks with guns in them in high school at the time.

      But this kid obviously had issues and they should have been in a safe away from him. I do think holding parents liable with start changing things slowly. I wish it was an over night change but we need to do it more often

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        imagine how much worse this would be if the child in question went to drag time story hour instead of being given a killing machine! /s

      • HostilePasta@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        Drag queen story times are of the devil! ( The Christians say while attending church where someone dresses up and reads stories).

      • quafeinum@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I was gonna write a witty but bleak reply to this but I’m not gonna. Have a nice day

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Did he think the kid was going to carry it around the school all day every day? Did he know that school shootings tend to happen … in schools?

    • aname@lemmy.one
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      3 months ago

      Call me crazy, but I don’t think civilians should own AR-15s

      • wildcardology@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        And they were designed and marketed for civilian use. Imagine if it’s legal to purchase military grade assault rifles.

    • Today@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I grew up in a rural area with just my mom. We had two handguns and a shotgun hidden in the house. Anytime we went walking in the pasture a gun came with us in case of snakes or wild dogs and a couple of times per year i was required to shoot at cans with each one. I wasn’t interested in them and didn’t like shooting them, but understood her desire for me to feel comfortable using them ‘just in case’. We often took long road trips to visit family and would stop to nap in rest areas for a few hours. The small handgun was always beside the driver’s seat. It was the 70s and early 80s and nothing was locked. 22 in the nightstand drawer, 38 in a dresser drawer, and shotgun behind her bedroom door - all loaded and ready. It didn’t seem weird; it was just what my mom did to try to keep us safe.

    • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Should be illegal to buy a child a gun until they are 18. You can 2A all you want about defending the country but you fuckers ain’t gonna tell me you will have a child in your militia. Can’t drive until 16, can’t smoke until 18, can’t drink until 21 but you can go out and fire deadly weapons whenever your parents say it’s cool.

      • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        21 now to smoke.

        And hopefully they keep charging the parents. Got kids? Got firearms? They better be locked in a safe and only the parent should know the code…some people are dumb as fuck.

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Why these people giving weapons to their kids after the sheriff first contacted you to investigate school shooting threats your kid made online,

  • 2pt_perversion@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    My dad gave me a gun for one of my earlier birthdays. It was a bolt action .22 that went right into a gun safe that I couldn’t access…It was a pretty shitty present as I didn’t enjoy hunting at the time but in retrospect I’m glad I learned gun safety and shooting.

    Why the fuck would you buy a 14 year old an AR15 style rifle, especially after he already had a history of making school shooting threats at school? Dude deserves prison for a long time.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    After they had been contacted by investigators over concerns the kid wanted to do a school shooting.

    This is why red flag laws need to be a thing.

    The buried lede-

    The timeline the teen’s father provided to authorities would put the gun purchase months after authorities first contacted Gray and his family to investigate school shooting threats made online.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          2 counts of murder 2

          4 counts of involuntary manslaughter

          8 counts of cruelty to children

          I wonder how they settled on 2 counts of murder. Maybe that implies they think 2 victims were targetted and 2 were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Oh absolutely. Throw that fucker in jail. He’s more responsible than the kid.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Yeah, I’m wondering how many people failed that kid for him to end up in a place where he decided to throw away his life to lash out in a way that couldn’t be ignored or swept under a rug.

          Ultimately, this is probably the root of the problem more than the access to guns are because a kid that wants to shoot up his school but can’t get a gun to do so is still a tragedy and could still turn deadly.

          Edit: not that guns aren’t too easy to access in the US

    • Johnmannesca@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Never buy your adolescents guns parents, as a matter of fact, don’t let them have guns where you can’t see them

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        There are places where training your kids in an age appropriate manner is the right thing to do. But of course it’s the parent’s responsibility to do that correctly, supervise use, and remove any firearms if there are problems.

  • Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I was gifted a shotgun at 15. It was a double barrel break action shotgun from my grandmother.

    I kept it in a gun rack my grandfather left me hanging on my wall. I never had issues, but if one of my friends wanted access, it probably could have been stolen.

    Lock up your guns.

  • selokichtli@lemmy.ml
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    3 months ago

    Americans need to analyze their views surrounding guns. And take their time. It’s mind-blowing to try to make them understand guns are risky, regardless of handling, trigger discipline, or any other bullshit they tell themselves. The mere existence of guns is dangerous, the bigger the number of guns out there is the amount of accidents, shootings and massacres waiting to happen out there.

    Edit: yeah, pushed some buttons here. Good.

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s funny (in a sad way) how people who frequent shooting ranges - which usually have very strict rules regarding firearm discipline and handling safety - are fine with allowing every schmuck in the world to walk around packing. If that shit is so important on a gun range, why would it be unimportant out in the world?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Who have you been talking to? 80 percent of Americans want gun control laws like a universal background check. For a general question of more strict laws support is at 60 percent.

      Here’s a former Supreme Court judge saying the conservatives have hijacked the second amendment and we in response we should repeal it.

      Washington Post reports that around that same period 21 percent of Americans were ready to repeal it.

      We’re out here, and we’re pissed. We just get angrier every time time we see a headline and every time it turns out that common sense gun laws were subverted by people in authority.

    • spyd3r@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Let me analyze this for a minute… Nope not giving up my rights because criminals can’t control themselves from committing crimes.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    I don’t understand why the father would just confess like that, but I suppose I shouldn’t expect good judgement from him.

    • WindyRebel@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Many guns are named after people who distributed, produced, or designed them.

      So he is a guy named after a gun that was named after a guy.

  • MobileDecay@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    And there was another shooting today with 1 dead. 2 shootings in one week. More thoughts and prayers of course. 🙄