Ever since 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly shot up Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday killing two children, and two adults, and wounding nine others, officials have been struggling to answer the usual questions about the incident. (Just assume that I'm including the word "allegedly" throughout this article, though it's obvious that they have the correct kid in custody.) Answers are being uncovered at a rapid pace, not just about Colt Gray himself, but pretty much his entire immediate family. One thing that has already become clear is that this wasn't a case of an otherwise normal student who flew under the radar before losing it and bringing a weapon to the school. The entire family has a history of what appear to be very serious issues.

The first, most obvious expansion of the investigation of the case came when we learned that Colt's father, Colin Gray was arrested and charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and a collection of other serious offenses. It turns out that Colin purchased the rifle used in the attack as a gift for Colt last year, but the details make that decision seem even worse. (NY Post)

The father of the alleged teen gunman who killed four people in a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in northern Georgia has been arrested, law enforcement officials announced Thursday night.

Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the day after his 14-year-old son Colt Gray was charged with murder.

The charges come after it was revealed that Colin Gray purchased the AR-15-style rifle Colt allegedly used in the massacre as a Christmas gift last December, sources told The Post.

This wasn't a case where Colin Gray simply purchased the gun as a gift for his son. He gave it to him seven months after law enforcement visited their home to question Colt about threats to shoot up a school. Colin assured investigators that Colt never had "unsupervised access" to the weapon, a claim that obviously was not true. (Or at least not all of the time.) This should have been a major red flag.

Then there is the mother, Marcee Gray, 43. She reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet including charges of "drug and domestic violence arrests." Neighbors reported that she regularly locked the children outside of the house at night, leaving them there screaming to be let in for hours. Child Protective Services had visited the home many times since the family moved there in 2022.

No summary of the shooter's family would be complete without checking in on the rest of Colt Gray's relatives. One woman claiming to be Colt's aunt quickly rushed to his defense on Facebook, warning people that there would be trouble if anyone spoke ill of her nephew. She suggested that she would be going "full throttle" on anyone accusing him of any wrongdoing.

The aunt of alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray threatened to go “full throttle” on anyone speaking ill of the 14-year-old suspect on social media just hours after the massacre unfolded.

Annie Polhamus Brown, who identified herself as Gray’s aunt, leapt to the teen’s defense in a series of since-removed Facebook posts soon after authorities identified him as the alleged gunman who opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder on Wednesday.

The woman vowed to stick by the alleged gunman, saying she “WILL NOT” leave her “nephew standing alone!!!!”

To a certain extent, we can all probably understand the aunt's reaction. Most people don't want to hear strangers accusing their family of terrible things or making them out to be monsters. But when the apparent evidence seems so overwhelming and turns up this quickly, it might be time to take a step back and consider your approach a bit more. A call for restraint "during this difficult time" and privacy for the family would certainly have been more appropriate. This sort of response only serves to make the entire family seem even more unhinged.

This entire situation is simply a disaster and it's made all the worse if it turns out that it could have been prevented. As regular readers know, I'm one of the stronger proponents of Second Amendment rights that you're likely to encounter and I have significant reservations about some of the "red flag" laws being passed around the country today. But there need to be limits for everything in a civil society. It sounds as if the Grays' house was a toxic, dangerous environment and potential problems had been brewing for some time before the wheels came off entirely on Wednesday. This may have been one of those rare cases where law enforcement should have stepped in and said, "You know... maybe having firearms in the house isn't really such a great idea for you." Sadly, it's too late for that now.