The father of the Georgia school shooter was charged with murder
Image: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters
Last week, the father of the 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooting suspect was arrested in connection with the Georgia attack that left four dead, in a case that pushes the legal limits of parental responsibility for a child’s alleged gun crime.
The details: The arrest warrant accuses the father of causing the deaths of others “by providing a firearm to [his son] with knowledge that he was a threat to himself and others.”
Officials say a key part of the case stems from an interaction the father and his son had with law enforcement more than a year prior to last week’s mass shooting.
- In May 2023, the FBI alerted local police to online threats about a school shooting associated with an email address linked to the then-13-year-old suspect.
- A sheriff's deputy went to interview the boy – who denied making the threats – as well as his father. According to an FBI statement, the father told police he had guns in the house, but his son didn’t have unsupervised access to them.
- Seven months later, the suspect’s father purchased the AR-15-style rifle that was allegedly used in the mass shooting as a holiday present for his son, according to multiple reports citing law enforcement sources.
Why it’s a big deal: The case marks the second time in US history that a parent has been charged in connection with a mass shooting by a minor, after the parents of the 16-year-old who carried out a 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, were each convicted and sentenced to 10+ years in prison earlier this year.
- It also features the most serious charges levied in such a case: two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children. Altogether, they carry a prison sentence of up to 180 years.
Looking ahead… The Apalachee High School shooting suspect and his father are both scheduled to appear in court for separate preliminary hearings in early December.
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that adults shouldn’t be imprisoned merely for being bad parents or struggling to raise children with mental health issues – but recklessly enabling kids to commit mass shootings should make adults accessories to the crime.
- Others contend that America’s increasing zeal to prosecute parents of mass shooters sets a murky legal precedent for questionable parenting, while also camouflaging the abject failure of the federal and state governments to adequately regulate gun safety.
- “Charge reckless parents when kids use their guns in mass shootings” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “Blaming a Parent, Again, for Failed Gun Laws” –Megan K. Stack, NY Times
- “The parents paying for their children’s crimes” –Jamiles Lartey, The Marshall Project
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that it’s important that laws are written in a way that requires clear parental culpability when it comes to charging them for their childrens’ gun crimes, and lays out clear standards of evidence beyond guilt by parental association.
- Others contend that knowing they may go to prison if their child becomes the next school shooter may cause some parents to be more attuned to their children’s mental health – but it could also scare parents into doing nothing, afraid of being blamed for their child’s problems or having them taken away.
- “Parents and School Shooters” –WSJ Editorial Board
- “Georgia school shooting: Should parents be charged?” –Jennifer Graham, Deseret News
- “Smart parents can stop school shootings” –Michael Reagan, El Dorado News-Times
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