Colt Gray is taken into custody after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing four people in a shooting at his school, at the Barrow County Superior Court in Georgia on Wednesday (local time). [AP-Yonhap]
Colt Gray is taken into custody after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing four people in a shooting at his school, at the Barrow County Superior Court in Georgia on Wednesday (local time). [AP-Yonhap]

A teenage boy who killed four people in a shooting at a Georgia high school has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday (local time).

Judge Nicholas Primm of the Barrow County Superior Court handed down the sentence at a hearing Wednesday, saying defendant Colt Gray, 16, had shown no remorse for his actions.

Gray opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Apalachee High School in Winder, north of Atlanta, on Sept. 4, 2024, killing two teachers and two students and wounding nine others. The rifle had been given to him by his father as a Christmas gift.

Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was tried as an adult and pleaded guilty Monday to 55 charges, including four counts of first-degree murder. Because he was under 15 when the attack occurred, he was not eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors said Gray had long idolized mass shooters and had written detailed plans for the attack in a notebook beforehand. A year before the shooting, he was questioned by the FBI after posting content on social media suggesting he was planning a mass shooting.

Gray's father, Colin Gray, 55, was found guilty on March 3 of charges related to his failure to prevent his son's crimes. He had given his son the rifle as a gift despite the younger Gray having shown signs of mental illness for years.


husn7@heraldcorp.com