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.
My father also bought me a gun as a birthday present as a teenager, and looking back it was wholly inappropriate and dangerous. Granted, I never had thoughts of killing people.
Were you always in possession of it, or did he keep it properly stored until he took you shooting?
I was in possession of it, but he kept the ammo “hidden” on top of a cabinet.
I was also gifted firearms as a child. They were kept inside a locked safe that I didn’t have the combination for when not being used for hunting or target shooting. As much as I enjoy guns, hunting, and shooting, I can also see that responsibility goes beyond “it’s guaranteed in the constitution” or equivalent bullshit.
A teenager’s brain chemistry is rapidly changing due to hormones, etc. I remember a couple days when I was about 14 where I became massively depressed for no apparent reason, just likely a temporary chemical imbalance in my brain. If I had a gun, who knows what I would have done.