{"id":28818,"date":"2026-02-27T11:32:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/father-takes-stand-in-georgia-school-shooting-trial-says-gun-was-christmas-gift\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:32:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:32:03","slug":"father-takes-stand-in-georgia-school-shooting-trial-says-gun-was-christmas-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/father-takes-stand-in-georgia-school-shooting-trial-says-gun-was-christmas-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Takes Stand in Georgia School Shooting Trial, Says Gun Was Christmas Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

The father of a teenager charged in a deadly Georgia school shooting took the witness stand Friday, revealing he presented the rifle used in the attack to his son as a Christmas gift meant to strengthen their relationship through hunting and target practice.<\/p>

Colin Gray’s testimony came as part of a growing trend nationwide where parents face criminal charges following their children’s involvement in fatal school shootings. Legal experts say prosecutors are attempting to hold Colin Gray responsible for providing the weapon to his son despite warning signs about the teen’s mental state.<\/p>

During his court appearance, Colin Gray described the moment he surprised his son Colt with the firearm after the family finished opening Christmas presents. Walking to his son’s room, he told the boy he had an additional gift waiting.<\/p>

“This is a weapon that I want you to shoot when we go to the range, and if you keep doing really good in school, going to school and doing all the things you should, you graduate and you’re 18, this will be your gun,” Colin Gray recalled telling his son.<\/p>

The younger Gray, age 14 during the September 4, 2024 incident, now faces 55 criminal charges including murder for the deaths of four individuals and 25 counts of aggravated assault. Authorities say he methodically planned the attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, located northeast of Atlanta, which claimed the lives of two educators and two students while injuring several others.<\/p>

Colin Gray is confronting 29 charges himself, including two second-degree murder counts and two involuntary manslaughter charges.<\/p>

The father’s trial, now in its second week, has featured testimony from the boy’s mother, Marcee Gray, who said she pressed her husband to secure their firearms to prevent Colt from reaching them. However, witnesses have stated that in the days preceding the school attack, Colt kept the weapon in his bedroom.<\/p>

The parents had been living apart for much of the period leading to the shooting, and Marcee Gray has not been charged with any offenses.<\/p>

Last week brought emotional testimony from Georgia high school students who survived being shot during their algebra class. Through tears, they described witnessing a fellow student lying in blood, then discovering they were bleeding and fearing for their lives.<\/p>

Prosecutors have also presented evidence of what they characterize as a “shrine” dedicated to a Florida school shooter that Colt maintained on his bedroom wall near his computer.<\/p>

According to Marcee Gray’s testimony this week, Colt had developed a fascination with Nikolas Cruz, who received a conviction for the 2018 shooting that killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.<\/p>

This case represents one of multiple prosecutions across the country where legal authorities are pursuing charges against parents following their children’s alleged involvement in deadly school shootings.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colin Gray testified that he gave his 14-year-old son the rifle used in a deadly Georgia school shooting as a Christmas present to encourage bonding and good grades. The father faces murder charges in connection with the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School that killed four people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[831],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1772209922698.jpg?fit=998%2C555&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-7uO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30530,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/georgia-fathers-murder-trial-in-school-shooting-case-goes-to-jury\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":0},"title":"Georgia Father’s Murder Trial in School Shooting Case Goes to Jury","author":"Admin","date":"March 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Georgia jury is deliberating murder charges against Colin Gray, whose 14-year-old son allegedly used a rifle given as a Christmas gift to kill four people at Apalachee High School. The case represents a rare prosecution holding a parent criminally responsible for their child's school shooting.","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772493495313.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21675,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/father-on-trial-as-georgia-school-shooting-survivors-share-traumatic-testimony\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":1},"title":"Father on Trial as Georgia School Shooting Survivors Share Traumatic Testimony","author":"Admin","date":"February 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"High school students testified about the terror they experienced during a deadly 2024 Georgia school shooting. The father of the accused shooter is now facing charges for allegedly providing the weapon despite warning signs.","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771353250973.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771353250973.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771353250973.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771353250973.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31098,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/georgia-father-found-guilty-in-sons-school-shooting-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":2},"title":"Georgia Father Found Guilty in Son’s School Shooting Case","author":"Admin","date":"March 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Georgia man has been convicted on 27 charges including second-degree murder after his teenage son used a rifle he gave him to kill four people at a high school. The rare case holds a parent criminally responsible for their child's actions in a mass shooting.","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772560115592.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25742,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/mom-warned-father-to-secure-weapons-before-georgia-school-shooting-court-hears\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":3},"title":"Mom Warned Father to Secure Weapons Before Georgia School Shooting, Court Hears","author":"Admin","date":"February 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The mother of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray testified that she warned the boy's father to lock away firearms before the deadly Apalachee High School attack. Marcee Gray told jurors she urged Colin Gray to secure the guns in his truck, but her warnings went unheeded in the case\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771871610794.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771871610794.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771871610794.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771871610794.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31047,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/father-of-georgia-school-shooter-found-guilty-of-murder-manslaughter\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":4},"title":"Father of Georgia School Shooter Found Guilty of Murder, Manslaughter","author":"Admin","date":"March 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Georgia jury convicted Colin Gray of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for his role in his teenage son's deadly school shooting. Prosecutors said Gray gave his 14-year-old son access to weapons despite knowing the boy's mental health issues and obsession with school shooters.","rel":"","context":"In "U.S. News"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/us-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772555618894.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772555618894.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772555618894.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1772555618894.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20743,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/father-of-georgia-school-shooter-faces-murder-charges-in-historic-parental-responsibility-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":28818,"position":5},"title":"Father of Georgia School Shooter Faces Murder Charges in Historic Parental Responsibility Case","author":"Admin","date":"February 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Colin Gray will face opening statements Monday on charges including second-degree murder for allegedly providing his teenage son with the weapon used in a deadly Georgia school shooting. 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