Yet another school shooting.

[sovereignstar v2]

The most vital right of an American is paranoia? Oh you mean deadly weapons. Not life or liberty or happiness. The right to bear arms.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

The right to bear arms.

Without that, the others have no standing whatsoever.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The biggest people problem is those who would abridge the overwhelmingly single most vital right of an American citizen.

What century you livin' in, boss?

[Ben E Lou]

Dad charged with murder. News conference at 8. This will be interesting….

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Dad charged with murder. News conference at 8. This will be interesting….

The article below didn't get into details other than dad bought it as a Christmas present for him in 2023. There needs to be more "negligence" than just buying the weapon. I'm guessing there's more.

Georgia school shooting: The father of the shooting suspect has been arrested and is facing several charges, authorities say | CNN

The father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting that left four people dead, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Colin Gray, 54, is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said Thursday.

His son, Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student, is accused of killing two students and two teachers with an AR-style rifle in the Wednesday shooting. Nine more people were hospitalized.

CNN is working to determine whether Colin Gray has legal representation. When reached by phone on Thursday, the Barrow County Public Defender’s Office could not confirm if they were representing him and had no comment.

Gray told investigators this week he had purchased the gun used in the killings as a holiday present for his son in December 2023, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

One source told CNN the AR-15-style rifle was purchased at a local gun store as a Christmas present. The timeline the teen’s father provided to authorities would put the gun purchase months after authorities first contacted Gray and his family to investigate school shooting threats made online.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia closed that investigation because the tip about the threat could not be substantiated.

[Ben E Lou]

Yeah, that’s what I meant by “interesting.” Since it’s legal in Georgia for the kid to possess the gun, I’m curious what they’ve got on him to go all the way to 2nd degree murder as quickly as they did. Like, did Dad know what son was going to do yesterday and help or look the other way?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The biggest people problem is those who would abridge the overwhelmingly single most vital right of an American citizen.

A right that was created in 2008.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Yeah, that’s what I meant by “interesting.” Since it’s legal in Georgia for the kid to possess the gun, I’m curious what they’ve got on him to go all the way to 2nd degree murder as quickly as they did. Like, did Dad know what son was going to do yesterday and help or look the other way?

If your kid says he's going to shoot up a school and you buy him a rifle that is mainly used to mass shoot people, you're definitely an accessory at least.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

If your kid says he's going to shoot up a school and you buy him a rifle that is mainly used to mass shoot people, you're definitely an accessory at least.

I think this where that is going. The fact the police came to him last year was the warning, and the dad then bought the gun after that makes him culpable. I don't know if it will stand, but it does make sense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting listening to a group of five HS students sitting behind me at dinner tonight.

Suffice to say that not every HS student is suddenly overwrought with concern for their own safety after the events of this week. As I've noted in the past, I believe that's far more an issue for parents than modern-era students (which makes sense, as Columbine occurred 10 years before current HS students were born. the current landscape is literally all they've ever known as my own child pointed out to me some years ago)

Largely realistically matter-of-fact in their discussion, with a not inappropriate amount of gallows humor sprinkled in. Perhaps notably absent from it was any noteworthy amount of false bravado. Just mostly a pretty ... grounded .. take across the board.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting listening to a group of five HS students sitting behind me at dinner tonight.

Suffice to say that not every HS student is suddenly overwrought with concern for their own safety after the events of this week. As I've noted in the past, I believe that's far more an issue for parents than modern-era students (which makes sense, as Columbine occurred 10 years before current HS students were born. the current landscape is literally all they've ever known as my own child pointed out to me some years ago)

Largely realistically matter-of-fact in their discussion, with a not inappropriate amount of gallows humor sprinkled in. Perhaps notably absent from it was any noteworthy amount of false bravado. Just mostly a pretty ... grounded .. take across the board.

I can confirm this has been the reaction of the HS junior in my house. We have not had any discussion about the incident yesterday. In fact, the only discussion about school shootings this school has been him making us aware that he will be breaking the new restrictions on cell phone use and how much of a sitting duck students involved in after school activities (of which he is one) would be if there was an active shooting with the new state policy that all doors and gates must be locked when students are on campus.

[NobodyHere]

Georgia school shooting: The father of the shooting suspect has been arrested and charged, authorities say | CNN

[miked]

It's a weird thing, my 10th grader was sort of indifferent. I asked her how she felt and she just sort of accepts that nobody really cares and getting shot is a minor risk of going to school. While she understands that the risks are low, she also feels that nobody really cares about fixing it so why give it thought.

Meanwhile, I spoke with a parent at soccer practice who said he wanted to organize a bake sale to help buy teachers handguns because they should not have to spend any part of their small salary to defend our kids. I tried pointing out that statistically speaking it was more likely to be stolen or used in a crime than used to defend his kids, but he told me if all 50 teachers were carrying, nobody would bring an assault rifle to school.

[PilotMan]

Yes, we've reached the part of the discussion where 'if today's kids aren't afraid, why should we be?" Which is purely born from overexposure, and a genuine lack of anything different happening.



Kids have largely accepted it, the right has pushed it. Hell, the right is making a killing on bulletproof backpacks.



Doesn't make it right, just announces the failure of the government to fix it. It's depressing.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I am not necessarily arguing for either, but how are you not paying out the nose for car insurance and taxes on your tag and your gas? You have to be tested to even get a lisicense to use your car, and there are numerous restrictions on how you operate your vehicle and how your vehicle must operate. Alcohol also has a larger than normal tax, and many laws on who, how and where it is consumed.

I will admit, that this is one of those points where I agree with Jon. I also own a hammer, and I could use that hammer to commit murder, but I don't think I should be taxed extra on the purchase of a hammer or carry hammer-murder-insurance just because I could use it to commit murder.

That said, I also vote Democrat because I also believe that some people should have their right to own guns infringed,

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

If your kid says he's going to shoot up a school and you buy him a rifle that is mainly used to mass shoot people, you're definitely an accessory at least.

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I think this where that is going. The fact the police came to him last year was the warning, and the dad then bought the gun after that makes him culpable. I don't know if it will stand, but it does make sense.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the FBI and police cleared my client’s son and took no further action. Therefore, clearly they believed that it wasn’t him who made the threat. If the FBI and local police thought everything was ok, then naturally my client had no reason to be concerned.”

Don’t get me wrong: I think the dad was incredibly stupid and owns some *moral* responsibility here. But if they don’t have anything more than “we investigated and let him off the hook, therefore you should have restricted him from owning a rifle in a state that has no red flag laws or restrictions on age of rifle ownership,” then I’m kinda scratching my head on the murder charges (as opposed to manslaughter.)

[Ben E Lou]

LOL. Aha. I just checked Georgia law and it looks like it’s sort of a cascade of these three.

“Criminal negligence is an act or failure to act which demonstrates a willful, wanton, or reckless disregard for the safety of others who might reasonably be expected to be injured thereby.”

“Any person commits the offense of cruelty to children in the second degree when such person with criminal negligence causes a child under the age of 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain.”

“A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree when, in the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.”

So I guess 2nd degree murder hinges on if they can get criminal negligence. That still seems like it might be difficult given what we know so far. (I mean, if dad drove him to school and knew he had the gun or something, obviously that’s an entirely different story. But is it even legally negligent to buy him a gun if law enforcement took no action?)

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

So I guess 2nd degree murder hinges on if they can get criminal negligence. That still seems like it might be difficult given what we know so far. (I mean, if dad drove him to school and knew he had the gun or something, obviously that’s an entirely different story. But is it even legally negligent to buy him a gun if law enforcement took no action?)

I don't think so. There has to be more. Agree with you, we don't know enough right now.

The threats were made on line (discord). FBI investigated. Kid denied it, said his account was hacked. FBI believed him. Punted to school to continue monitoring. I'm leaning towards some FBI culpability here. My guess is when they do another review of this, they'll find there were more warning signs that was missed.

Access Denied

The suspect, then 13, was a possible suspect in connection with threats made online last year using photos of guns, the FBI’s Atlanta field office said in a joint statement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Within 24 hours, law enforcement officers interviewed the suspected gunman, who is not named in the statement but was identified earlier by local authorities as Colt Gray, in connection with the threats, the statement says.

The suspect denied making the threats, the statement says. His father, who was also interviewed, told investigators he had hunting guns in the home but his son did not have unsupervised access to them, according to the statement.

Authorities told local schools to continue monitoring the suspect, the statement says, but there was no probable cause to arrest him.

I believe father and mother are estranged? Do we even know if they were living in same house and who the kid was living with?

[Ben E Lou]

Per mom’s FB, she moved back to her original home town of Fitzgerald a few years ago. She accused the dad of domestic abuse. Per an article I posted upthread, she was apparently arrested for meth-related offenses last year.

[Ben E Lou]

Actually looks like CNN has a lot more detail on the family in a piece from late last night/early this morning. Short version: train wreck.

Colt Gray: Georgia high school shooting suspect had turbulent family life, CNN review finds | CNN

[Ben E Lou]

Good gracious. NY Post has even more, including having interviewed their next door neighbor. If the interviewees are to be believed, (and some of their stories overlap,) "train wreck" appears to be woefully inadequate in describing this situation.

Lauren Vickers, who lived next-door to the Grays in Jefferson, Georgia, said there were “problems immediately” when the Grays and their three children moved into the well-manicured neighborhood 60 miles east of Atlanta in 2022.
“There were nights where the mom would lock him and his sister out the house. And they would be banging on the back door, just screaming like ‘Mom! mom! mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she said.
Vickers said that sometimes the youngest child would come to her back yard asking for food.

“I would find her in the driveway, passed out, with the car running and blaring music early in the morning,” Vickers said, speaking of Marcee — whom she claims habitually abused drugs and alcohol.
“She would have taken the little one to daycare or pre-K. She was driving him like that,” she said of Gray’s younger brother.
She said Colt didn’t speak much, but that she’d often see him skipping school, wandering around the woods and in the unbuilt houses at nearby developments.
Asked to characterize Colt, Vickers said, “he wasn’t a bully or a mean kid. He didn’t say much. He was so quiet,” she said, noting that he was a classmate of her daughter, Berlin.
Although she called child services several times, Vickers said, “they came, talked to me, and did nothing.”

A former landlord of the Grays, who asked his name not be used, described Marcee as “a f–k up,” while crediting the father as, “trying his best to be a stand-up guy.”
“She was locking them out in inclement weather. Freezing weather,” he said, corroborating Vickers’ account.
He said he stopped by the house to speak to Colin once neighbors started complaining.
The neighbors reported [Marcee] was driving down the street in her car, drunk, fell out the car, with the door open and the engine running. As a landlord, I can’t tolerate this kind of behavior in a neighborhood where a tenant might be putting other children at risk,” he said,.
“I spoke to the husband and asked him, ‘do you know your children are being locked out of the house?'”
The landlord said Colin told him Marcee had been battling drug and alcohol addiction and that the couple was headed for divorce.
He then reported her to Georgia Division of Family & Children Services and removed her from the lease, leaving Colin to fend for himself until he eventually moved out on his own accord.
“I think the man really went through it. I can’t imagine he didn’t seek help for these children because they had been quite traumatized,” the landlord said.
He said although he never spoke to Colt, he got the impression that he “really wanted to be with his father.”
Asked about the Apalachee High School shooting, the landlord said, “I certainly wouldn’t think for a minute this was going to happen. There’s no way to predict this,” he said.
“All I can say is this child has fallen between the cracks of getting the help from the social network that we should have in place to help these children,” he said.

Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray's broken family

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the FBI and police cleared my client’s son and took no further action. Therefore, clearly they believed that it wasn’t him who made the threat. If the FBI and local police thought everything was ok, then naturally my client had no reason to be concerned.”

Don’t get me wrong: I think the dad was incredibly stupid and owns some *moral* responsibility here. But if they don’t have anything more than “we investigated and let him off the hook, therefore you should have restricted him from owning a rifle in a state that has no red flag laws or restrictions on age of rifle ownership,” then I’m kinda scratching my head on the murder charges (as opposed to manslaughter.)

Here is the counter: The FBI (and the local police who actually did the investigation) did not "clear him." They believe he sent the threats, but that there was no real danger because the father explicitly stated he did not allow his son access to guns. Not filing charges does not equal clearing, they just judged he wasn't an actual immediate threat based on the statement of the father. The father then after being warned that his son sent these threats bought him a gun. I think that likely gets him convicted.

[miami_fan]

“All I can say is this child has fallen between the cracks of getting the help from the social network that we should have in place to help these children,” he said.

LOL!

Not necessarily a discussion for this thread but I would love to know the who, what, where, why and hows of this social network he believes we should have in place. Oh yeah and who is the "we"?

[QuikSand]

Possible that the sequence of relevant components in this particular shooting might turn it into a memorable event, one that re-ignites a debate on whether to do anything about this trend? The missed red flag, the parental conduct, the fact that it's in a swing state during a close election... does that make this event actually matter for more than a day or three?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Possible that the sequence of relevant components in this particular shooting might turn it into a memorable event, one that re-ignites a debate on whether to do anything about this trend? The missed red flag, the parental conduct, the fact that it's in a swing state during a close election... does that make this event actually matter for more than a day or three?

I would to believe it would, but history tells us no.

[PilotMan]

So here's the thing. This whole "parents always know what's best for their kids in all situations" is total bullshit. Yet that's what we're sold, time and time again. People report, nobody does anything, "mental health". Straight excuses and no responsibility.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

LOL!

Not necessarily a discussion for this thread but I would love to know the who, what, where, why and hows of this social network he believes we should have in place. Oh yeah and who is the "we"?

This is where the Venn Diagram of diehard 2A advocates and people who laugh at "It takes a village to raise a child" will just be a single circle. But hey, when it affects you directly, you resort to the Trump "I'm always the victim/someone else is always to blame in every scenario" tactic.

[Ben E Lou]

Wait...how do we know the landlord's political leanings? Did I miss something, or are we just stereotyping because of....what...where he owns property???


Unless I missed something, as far as we know, dude could be a die-hard liberal from Athens or Atlanta who just drove over to talk to the guy...not to mention that not every single resident of that area is even conservative.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Drake

I will admit, that this is one of those points where I agree with Jon. I also own a hammer, and I could use that hammer to commit murder, but I don't think I should be taxed extra on the purchase of a hammer or carry hammer-murder-insurance just because I could use it to commit murder.

That said, I also vote Democrat because I also believe that some people should have their right to own guns infringed,

Could you use that hammer to kill 60 and wound 400+ from a 32nd floor window?

(I don't think even the Hammer Brothers could do that.)

[Ghost Econ]

Literally every other civilized country in the world has figured out how to prevent this from happening with anywhere near the frequency it occurs in the US. I don't think it's because they ban hammers.

[cuervo72]

edit: bah, Ksyrup beat me to the village thing

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Possible that the sequence of relevant components in this particular shooting might turn it into a memorable event, one that re-ignites a debate on whether to do anything about this trend? The missed red flag, the parental conduct, the fact that it's in a swing state during a close election... does that make this event actually matter for more than a day or three?

Ehh, we'll see. Really the only reason it gained traction here is because three prominent members of the forum (and probably most importantly, the recently-returned Ben) are in the general area.

(If there's a parental trial, maybe. Then again, I already forget the names of the parents in that other case.)

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, the parental criminal element has already happened - with convictions - in the Michigan shooting case. I don't know the facts well enough to compare them here, so maybe this becomes important because of a "slippery slope"-type element to it? Or because a conviction in GA would seem way more significant given the state's political leanings (and egregious to more GA citizens) than in MI?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yeah, the parental criminal element has already happened - with convictions - in the Michigan shooting case. I don't know the facts well enough to compare them here, so maybe this becomes important because of a "slippery slope"-type element to it? Or because a conviction in GA would seem way more significant given the state's political leanings (and egregious to more GA citizens) than in MI?

With the caveat we don't know much on any negligence here, I think the Crumbley Michigan case was more egregious including they went on the run after the shooting. There was a clear warning when school brought in parents and showed picture he had drawn. Parents left kid in school and the shooting happened later that day.

Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents sentenced to 10 years | AP News

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Not filing charges does not equal clearing, they just judged he wasn't an actual immediate threat based on the statement of the father.

The quote from the FBI statement

At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels.

In other words, they had pretty much diddly squat. Not even enough to charge under the state law for terroristic threats. That's a pretty low bar to clear in Georgia except that nobody can be convicted on uncorroborated testimony (that's black letter in the OGCA)

[JonInMiddleGA]

With an eye toward just how little it takes to make an arrest on things of this nature in Georgia, since the Barrow County shooting there have been NINE arrests across six counties (including Clarke & Oconee, as well as Jackson)

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Edward64

With the caveat we don't know much on any negligence here, I think the Crumbley Michigan case was more egregious including they went on the run after the shooting. There was a clear warning when school brought in parents and showed picture he had drawn. Parents left kid in school and the shooting happened later that day.

Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents sentenced to 10 years | AP News

That's my point. Without really knowing the facts of the MI case (some of which you mention here), this case could become important from slippery slope perspective on what constitutes [insert jurisdiction definition of certain murder/manslaughter charges] in not-so-clear-cut cases.

[NobodyHere]

Stupid question,

But do teenagers in Europe ever get the urge to just kill a whole bunch of people?

[Ben E Lou]

I think the only "new" element of this is the "bought a rifle for a 14-year-old and that's perfectly legal in Georgia even after the kid had been investigated for a school shooting threat" piece of it. I'd guess that if the dad gets off, there might be a push for strong laws to go after parents of shooters, but that's about it. If he is convicted, the laws "worked" and we move right along.



Responding to GrantDawg, I think a factor I didn't originally consider is a jury. It probably won't be hard to get 12 people more angry at the dad than they care about the legal definition of "negligent." If that can happen, they just decide he was morally negligent and therefore are willing to throw the book at him.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

With an eye toward just how little it takes to make an arrest on things of this nature in Georgia, since the Barrow County shooting there have been NINE arrests across six counties (including Clarke & Oconee, as well as Jackson)

I assume they'll be investigated thoroughly. For the "clear and present danger", they'll be confined. For the grey area ones, sent into therapy and watched.

Maybe one of pieces of the puzzle, is greater emphasis on treatment and removing and/or securing guns in the house.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I assume they'll be investigated thoroughly. For the "clear and present danger", they'll be confined. For the grey area ones, sent into therapy and watched.

Maybe one of pieces of the puzzle, is greater emphasis on treatment and removing and/or securing guns in the house.

Of the 9 arrests in that story, only one seems to have actually had a gun (and was charged for bringing it onto school grounds, not for making any threat).

Local authorities here in Clarke earlier this morning released a more detailed version of their arrest of a 12 year student for making threats ... the images of guns included with his threat (presumably made online/digitally) were simply pictures he downloaded from the internet.

Most were charged with "terroristic threats" ... which is a misdemeanor (as is "interference with operation of public schools" which one suspect also got charged with). Bond was set for the 17 y/o on those charges at $2,600.

Most of the others were remanded into the custody of the state juvenile system, I imagine most will be home before the weekend is out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

It probably won't be hard to get 12 people more angry at the dad than they care about the legal definition of "negligent." If that can happen, they just decide he was morally negligent and therefore are willing to throw the book at him.

I had THAT discussion last night with a certain newly minted prosecutor in another state.

I have a hard time imagining there not being a long fight over change of venue requests. Certainly for the shooter -- how could he possibly get an impartial jury -- a little murkier for the dad who was at least initially being held in an adjacent county (but I think was charged by the Barrow ... and I'm not sure they can have that trial there either ultimately).

That young attorney felt like it'd stay in place, but observation over decades tells me otherwise. We'll see which of us is right.

[GrantDawg]

Again, I think there is confusion on the idea of being "cleared" (found to not have done something) and "not charged" (not having enough evidence to charge). He was not cleared. I imagine police make a threat assement on these things, and make a judgement call on how aggressive they investigate. If they thought he was innocent, they wouldn't have asked the school to monitor him. Why monitor someone who is innocent? My guess is that we are also going to learn the officers suggested the father keep an eye on him as well and keep him away from firearms.
As for the 9 arrest since, how many of those arrests would have likely to have happened if it weren't days after a local school shooting? My guess is 1 or less. Also, how likely would have Colt's investigation would have ended in arrest if it were the day after a local school shooting? Very likely.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

With an eye toward just how little it takes to make an arrest on things of this nature in Georgia, since the Barrow County shooting there have been NINE arrests across six counties (including Clarke & Oconee, as well as Jackson)

Wouldn't the aftermath of this just make it MUCH more likely that they'll arrest? My assumption here is that there are soooooo many school shooter threats online that only the more serious-looking ones are investigated and arrests made. But in the immediate aftermath of this, there's not a law enforcement agency in the state of Georgia that wants to run the risk of being perceived as not taking a threat seriously enough.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

As for the 9 arrest since, how many of those arrests would have likely to have happened if it weren't days after a local school shooting? My guess is 1 or less.

I'd have to disagree with that number, simply based on how commonplace such arrests are. Between the three counties I see stuff from the most (Clarke, Oconee, and Pickens where I grew up) these happen a few times a year minimum. It's not mentioned much after the initial hubub since the charges are only a misdemeanor.

Although updates with the phrase "investigation determined that no credible threat existed" are more common than arrests.

Absent a credible threat, there's not much to charge someone WITH, not that will stick to ever see adjudication anyway.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Wouldn't the aftermath of this just make it MUCH more likely that they'll arrest? My assumption here is that there are soooooo many school shooter threats online that only the more serious-looking ones are investigated and arrests made. But in the immediate aftermath of this, there's not a law enforcement agency in the state of Georgia that wants to run the risk of being perceived as not taking a threat seriously enough.

So we have 9 people arrested in the past 24-36 hours. Only one of them had a gun as far as we know right now (and that looks more like a "brought a gun to school and got caught" than any threat)

Did those other 8 arrests make everyone safer?

It's p.r. but damned little else.

[Ben E Lou]

Serious question: what does "credible" threat actually mean here? Like if you say you're going to shoot up your school but you're 12 without access to any firearms, you just...get to make threats?


EDIT: OK, I see that only one of the nine had a firearm, so that ain't it....so what the heck makes those eight "credible?"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Serious question: what does "credible" threat actually mean here? Like if you say you're going to shoot up your school but you're 12 without access to any firearms, you just...get to make threats?

Generally, credible requires 1) intent, and 2) ability (or at least apparent ability)

Generic terroristic threat charges are a misdemeanor (same as if one adult threatens a business in the same manner) in Georgia, with a chance to tack on an additional misdemeanor charge of interfering with operation of a public school.

It upgrades to a felony (punishable by 1-5) if the threat "suggested the death of the threatened individual"

GA Code § 16-11-37 (2023)

Further
"No person shall be convicted under this subsection on the uncorroborated testimony of the party to whom the threat is communicated"

If I say "I'm gonna ..." but only say it to you, there can be no charge at all.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

EDIT: OK, I see that only one of the nine had a firearm, so that ain't it....so what the heck makes those eight "credible?"

Honestly, my best guess is that no more than 1-2 of the 8 will ever be convicted of anything. And those are the ones who end up with crappy lawyers.

Arrests are a lot easier than convictions.

edit to add: Like I said earlier, these are mostly p.r., with the primary benefit being placebo.

[Lathum]

I think the fathers fate rests on what evidence the prosecution is allowed to introduce.

Would they even be allowed to bring up the prior concerns and FBI visit? Can they bring in the neighbor? Can they bring up alleged abuses? Can they bring up the crazy mother? etc...