Georgia father's conviction tests new frontier in school shooting cases

"Though Colin Gray, 54, didn't fire any shots and wasn't at the school during the shooting, he was punished as such. Gray's case marked the second time the parent of a school shooter in the US has faced a homicide charge, and legal experts say that it won't be the last. It's a development both the legal and gun violence prevention fields are watching closely."

"The boy had sent his own parents text messages that displayed deep paranoia and a preoccupation with school shootings. And the couple met with school administrators both the day before and the morning of the shooting to discuss concerning behavior of their son, including looking up where to get bullets while in school and drawing a picture of a gun and wounded man on a math assignment with the message The thoughts won't stop. Help me. Blood everywhere, written on it."

"But the Crumbleys mentioned in neither meeting that their son had access to a handgun that his father had bought four days before the shooting. The Crumbleys were charged with involuntary manslaughter, with prosecutors arguing that the parents facilitated the shooting by allowing their son to have access to a firearm despite school staff's warnings that their son was in crisis and a threat to himself and those a"

A Georgia man was convicted of murder nearly two years after his 14-year-old son allegedly shot and killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others. The father did not fire any shots and was not at the school during the shooting, yet he was punished as if responsible. The case was the second time a parent of a school shooter in the US faced a homicide charge, and legal experts expect more such prosecutions. The rationale is that severe harm may justify broader responsibility beyond the shooter. Similar reasoning followed the Michigan case of Jennifer and James Crumbley, whose son sent alarming messages and was discussed with school administrators before the shooting, while the parents did not disclose that he had access to a handgun bought shortly before the attack.

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