By Eric Levenson, Maxime Tamsett

(CNN) — Colin Gray, the father of Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges Tuesday in a case testing the limits of who is responsible for a mass shooting.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting him on all 27 charges: Two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 18 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of reckless conduct.

At the defense table, Colin Gray did not visibly react to the verdict. He was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. He faces 10 to 30 years in prison on each murder charge and 1 to 10 years on each manslaughter charge.

Prosecutors accused Gray of buying his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas present and allowing him access to that weapon and ammunition despite warnings that his son was a danger to others. Colt Gray, then 14, used that rifle to carry out a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4, 2024, killing two teachers and two students and wounding nine others.

“That man and his son are both responsible for the immense suffering that occurred on September 4,” prosecutor Patricia Brooks said in closing arguments. “The blood is on their hands.”

Colin Gray’s defense, though, argued he did not know about his son’s violent plans and had taken steps to get him help for his mental health troubles.

The indictment alleged his actions constituted “criminal negligence” by “consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”

The trial was part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bore close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan. They were each convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Speaking after the verdict, Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith noted the Crumbley cases set a precedent and said he hoped this verdict “moves the needle a little further.” And he pushed back on concerns that Colin Gray was being punished for his child’s actions.

“This was a trial about this defendant’s actions, his choices and his responsibility,” Smith said.

Colt Gray has admitted to the shooting, according to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not guilty to 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder. A trial date has not been set.

What happened at the trial

The state presented its case over about two weeks, including emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the shooting, police interviews with Colin Gray, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in a bedroom closet, and testimony from the teen’s mother, grandmother and sister about Colt’s spiraling mental health.

Marcee Gray, the defendant’s estranged wife who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, testified their son was riddled with anxiety, easily agitated and had panic attacks. She said it was “very obvious” he needed professional help, but her husband “just didn’t want to deal with it.”

Notably, the jury saw body-camera footage from May 21, 2023, when deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office visited Colt and Colin Gray’s home after receiving an FBI tip about an online threat to shoot up a school. Colt denied posting the threat, and law enforcement was ultimately not able to substantiate the tip. Colin Gray bought his son the AR-15-style rifle later that year.

The defense called just one witness: Colin Gray himself. He testified he bought his son the firearm and ammunition in an attempt to get him interested in the outdoors and for father-son bonding. He also said he had scheduled counseling at school for Colt’s mental health issues and did not ever perceive his son as a threat.

“He’s a good kid,” the father said through tears. “He wasn’t perfect, nor was I, but to do something that heinous, I don’t know that anybody can see that kind of evil. The Colt I knew, the relationship I had, there was this whole other side of Colt I didn’t know existed.”

Yet in a tense cross-examination, he acknowledged multiple firearms were stored in a closet, unsecured and unlocked, and he said Colt sometimes kept the AR-15-style rifle in his bedroom. He struggled to explain Colt’s lack of school attendance throughout his entire eighth grade school year, per school records.

And he admitted he was aware that his son had been physically violent, had a photo of a school shooter posted on his bedroom wall and had texted a few weeks before the attack, “Whenever something happens, just know the blood is on your hands.”

Finally, the jury watched harrowing surveillance video showing Colt Gray’s movements the morning of the school shooting on September 4, 2024. School officials and resource officers had gone to intercept Colt Gray after he made several concerning comments that morning, but in a stranger-than-fiction mix-up, they confused him with another student named Kolton Gray.

Colt Gray then armed himself with the rifle – which he had brought to school hidden in his backpack – fired indiscriminately into a math class and shot several people in the hallway. Teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were killed.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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