(NewsNation) — The teenager charged with opening fire Wednesday at a Georgia high school, killing two teachers and two students, will remain in jail on multiple murder charges.
Colt Gray, 14, is charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder in connection with the shooting at Apalachee High School, about 50 miles from Atlanta. Prosecutors may file additional charges tied to the nonfatal injuries others suffered during the shooting, Barow County District Attorney Brad Smith said after court Friday.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, also went before a judge Friday on charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children. Investigators haven’t gone into detail about those charges beyond saying they’re directly connected with the alleged shooter’s actions and allowing him to possess a weapon.
Neither the teen’s attorney nor his father’s requested bond, meaning they’ll remain in jail for now. The court may appoint a different set of attorneys to the cases to avoid any potential conflicts of interest that could arise if the public defender’s office represented both the alleged shooter and his dad. A new lawyer could choose to ask for a bond hearing, though immediate next steps are unclear.
The teenager entered the courtroom Friday wearing green shirt and khaki pants, his hands and feet shackled. He sat beside a public defender as the judge read aloud the charges and explained his rights. Gray is charged in the deaths of 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Each count carries a maximum possible sentence of death or life in prison, Judge Currie Mingledorff said. But because the alleged shooter is younger than 17, he won’t face the death penalty.
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Police in Georgia spent much of Thursday questioning the high school student, but it wasn’t their first time speaking with him.
The teenager denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a reported threat made on the messaging platform Discord, according to a sheriff’s report obtained by The Associated Press.
The FBI said it received several anonymous tips last May about online threats — including photos of guns.
The boy’s father also told investigators he had hunting guns in their home but said his son didn’t have unfettered access to them.
Meanwhile, court records show the boy’s mother, Marcee Gray — who is not charged in connection with the shooting — may be barred from contacting her estranged husband Colin Gray unless through a third party.
The stipulation was a condition of the mother’s probation stemming from an unrelated December charge. She’s faced various criminal and traffic violations throughout the past decade in several Georgia counties, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
Outside the school, there’s a growing memorial.
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“I heard the banging, I heard the gunshots, and I heard the police, and I heard the sirens,” a senior student told NewsNation.
“When he walked out of the class, he did see a body on the floor and he assumed that that was the shooter that was killed by the cop, but apparently that’s not the case,” her father said.
A new security system installed last week may have prevented further tragedy.
A special badge with a panic button worn by staff at the school allowed teachers to discreetly request emergency help in their exact location.