Colin Gray, father of the teenager who killed four people at Apalachee High School in Georgia in 2024, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The sentence follows his March convictions for second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and related charges, in a case that underlines the growing willingness of US courts to hold parents criminally responsible for shootings carried out by their children.

The judge ordered concurrent sentences of 15 years for each murder conviction and 10 years for each manslaughter conviction, rejecting prosecutors’ request for up to 80 years and the defence’s request for 10. Prosecutors said Gray ignored clear warning signs and gave his son Colt an AR-style rifle despite earlier police inquiries into alleged online shooting threats; Colt, now 16, pleaded guilty last week to killing two pupils and two teachers.