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CrimeUnited States of America

Georgia school shooting suspect's father arrested

September 6, 2024

The father of the teenager accused of killing four people and wounding nine at a high school in the US state of Georgia has been arrested on charges including second-degree murder.

https://p.dw.com/p/4kKmq
A driveway leads to a home with a truck in the garage and an American flag flying from the front entrance
Authorities said father of suspected school shooter who lived in Barrow County, Georgia, 'knowingly allowed' his son to possess gunImage: John Spink/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/abaca/picture alliance

The authorities in the US state of Georgia on Thursday arrested the father of the 14-year-old school shooting suspect in connection with Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School that left four dead and nine wounded.

The 54-year-old man was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a social media post.

The charges were based on the father knowingly allowing his son to possess a weapon, according to GBI Director Chris Hosey. 

"His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon," Hosey added.

2023 probe provided no grounds for arrest

Both the accused were questioned by local officials in neighboring Jackson County last year about an online school shooting threat, but there was no probable cause for their arrest, the FBI said Wednesday.

In that 2023 investigation, the father said he had hunting rifles in the house but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them. The son denied making the online threats, the FBI added.

Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the report from May 2023 and found nothing that would have justified bringing charges at the time.

School shooting in US state of Georgia leaves four dead

Holding gun-owning parents accountable for school violence

The charges against the father follow the April sentencing of the mother and father of a Michigan high school shooter, believed to be the first time parents have been held legally responsible for their children's actions in a school shooting.

In that case, the parents of a teen who shot and killed four classmates at Oxford High School in 2021 were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. 

The jury found them guilty of failing to secure guns in their home and ignoring warning signs that their son was mentally disturbed. Experts and gun safety advocates said their trials were an important step toward holding gun-owning parents more accountable for school violence committed by their children.

dh/sms (AP, Reuters)