Attorneys representing Colin Gray, the father of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter, are asking the court to separate him from other inmates to ensure his personal safety, citing threats and calls for violence.
Attorneys representing Colin Gray, the father of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter, are asking the court to separate him from other inmates to ensure his personal safety, citing threats and calls for violence.
Colin Gray, the 54-year-old father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, appeared in Barrow County Superior Court on Friday, September 6, facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, and second-degree cruelty to children in connection with the September 4 attack in Winder, Georgia.
Gray's attorneys have filed a request with the court, asking that he be separated from other inmates at the Barrow County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond. The attorneys argue that the extensive media coverage and public outrage surrounding the shooting have led to numerous threats and calls for violence against Gray, putting his safety at risk.
Father of Apalachee High School Shooting Suspect Requests Isolation for Safety
In a copy of the filing obtained by WRDW, Gray's attorneys wrote that "as a result of the coverage, the public perception as discerned through both the local and national media, and most notably, social media, has led to a nonstop barrage of information being transmitted to the public, leading to incalculable number of threats against the Defendant and calling for both harm and violence to befall the Defendant, and in some cases, even calling for death of the Defendant."
They continued, "so many lives in the community of Barrow County have been touched in unfathomable ways, it would be reckless to assume there are NO inmates, either currently or in the near future, being housed in the Barrow County Detention Center, who wish harm to the Defendant."
Father of Apalachee High School Shooting Suspect Requests Isolation for Safety
The attorneys also raised concerns about the "custodial setting and the non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, nature of supervision necessary in such a custodial environment, with such a high profile defendant," arguing that "opportunities abound for individuals to visit such violence upon the Defendant."
Four people were killed and nine were injured during the high school shooting, which has sent shockwaves through the community and drawn national attention. The Barrow County Sheriff's Office has declined to comment on Gray's request for separation from other inmates.
Father of Apalachee High School Shooting Suspect Requests Isolation for Safety
