CNN
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A deadly start to a school year left a community in a small northern Georgia town “heartbroken” on Friday after a 14-year-old suspect and his father were charged in connection with the shooting rampage that left two students and two teachers dead this week, authorities said.

Colt Gray, a student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder after investigators say he fired an AR-style rifle on school grounds Wednesday morning, killing four people and injuring at least nine, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“A young person brought a gun into a school and committed an evil act. He took lives and hurt many other people – not only physically, but emotionally as well,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a press conference Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, authorities have taken steps to hold the teen’s father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, accountable after charging him on Thursday with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse, the GBI said.

CNN is trying to determine if Colin Gray has legal representation. When contacted by phone Thursday, the Barrow County Public Defender’s Office could not confirm if she is representing him and did not provide comment. CNN has made multiple attempts to reach Colin Gray by phone and in person at the family’s home.

“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a firearm,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said at Thursday’s press conference.

Wednesday’s mass killing was the 45th school shooting of 2024 and the deadliest school shooting in the United States since the Covenant School massacre in Nashville in March 2023, which left six people dead.

Here’s what we know so far:

• Suspect of mass murder to be tried as an adult: Colt Gray, who is being held in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, is scheduled to remain in custody there until he turns 17, although his case has been transferred to the adult system, agency spokesman Glenn Allen told CNN on Thursday. Under Georgia law, a juvenile between the ages of 13 and 17 who commits a serious crime is automatically tried as an adult. Colt Gray is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday and is cooperating with investigators, authorities said.

• Victims of shootings were identified: Wednesday’s fatal shooting at Apalachee High School left two 14-year-old students dead — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — 53-year-old math teacher Cristina Irimie and 39-year-old assistant football coach Richard Aspinwall, who also taught math. Authorities said Irimie was celebrating her birthday with her students the day she was shot, according to a family friend.

• Hospitalized victims are expected to make a full recovery: The nine other people hospitalized after Wednesday’s shooting are expected to fully recover from their injuries, Smith said Thursday.

• Suspect in last year’s mass murder questioned about online threats: In May 2023, police officers questioned Colt Gray and his father about “online threats to commit a school shooting” that included photos of guns, according to a joint statement from the FBI Atlanta and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Colt Gray, who was 13 at the time, told investigators during that interview that “someone accused him of threatening to shoot at a school and stated that he would never say such a thing, even in jest,” authorities said. Authorities could not confirm the threats and the investigation was closed, according to the sheriff’s office.

• Other schools also received threats, investigators say: Apalachee High School received a phone threat Wednesday morning before shots were fired on school grounds. The threat warned of shootings at five schools, including Apalachee High, several law enforcement officials told CNN. It’s unclear who made the call, and investigators found no evidence that other schools were targeted. However, they are “following up any leads about possible connections of the shooter involved in this incident,” Hosey said.

• The suspect’s father bought the gun involved in the shooting as a gift: Before charges against Colin Gray were announced Thursday, two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said he told authorities he purchased the AR-style rifle used in the Apalachee High School shooting as a Christmas present for his son in December 2023. That would mean the gun purchase came months after authorities first contacted Colin Gray and his family while investigating a school shooting threat last year.