USA Negligent homicide? Father of shooter arrested

Police in the US state of Georgia have arrested the father of a 14-year-old who killed at least four people at a school.

The 54-year-old father of the shooter is charged with involuntary manslaughter, among other things, because he "knowingly allowed his son to possess a weapon", said Chris Hosey from the local investigating authority in Georgia. The perpetrator himself would have to answer for murder. Investigators had previously announced that the 14-year-old would be treated as an adult in the criminal proceedings.

A gun as a Christmas present?

The US television station CNN reported, citing police sources, that the boy's father had told investigators himself that he had given his son the weapon - an AR-15 assault rifle - as a Christmas present last December. When asked, Hosey did not comment on whether the man had given his son the weapon. The investigator also did not elaborate on the circumstances of the arrest.

The teenager opened fire at a school in the town of Winder near Atlanta on Wednesday. According to the police, two 14-year-old pupils and two teachers were among the victims. Nine other people were injured in the attack. Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said all nine were on the mend and would make a full recovery. Some are still in the hospital, he said, while others have already been released.

The shooter

According to investigators, the shooter is a teenager who himself went to school at Apalachee High School. A school policeman had confronted the 14-year-old. The teenager probably feared that there might be an exchange of gunfire, lay down on the ground and gave up. The police have not yet provided any information on a possible motive. However, the crime had probably already been foreshadowed.

The teenager is no stranger to the police. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there were already several anonymous tips about a possible attack last year. Specifically, there were online threats containing photos of weapons and announcing a gun attack at a school, they said. The alleged shooter and his father were then questioned. The then 13-year-old denied having threatened an attack. The local schools were alerted in order to continue monitoring the teenager. At that time, however, there was "no credible reason for an arrest or for further prosecution measures".

When parents are also accused

The accusations against the shooter's father are reminiscent of another case from the recent past. In April, the parents of a teenager who had caused a massacre at a school were sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter for the first time in the USA. The case concerned a teenager who shot and killed four pupils at a school in the US state of Michigan in 2021. His mother and father each received a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.

It was the first time in the USA that the parents of a gunman were convicted of such a crime on the grounds of personal responsibility. The murder weapon was a gift from the parents to their then 15-year-old son, with which he committed the murders shortly afterwards.

Gun violence continues to shake the USA

In the USA, fatal shootings are part of everyday life. Firearms are readily available in the USA and are in circulation on a large scale. Major attacks of this kind, for example in schools, supermarkets, nightclubs or at large events, regularly lead to discussions about tightening gun laws - so far without any success. A substantial tightening of gun laws in the USA has been prevented by Republicans for years.

Democratic President Joe Biden once again called for a ban on assault rifles and stricter regulations on gun storage. He himself is a gun owner and is in favor of the right to bear arms, said the 81-year-old during an appearance in the state of Wisconsin. But the country needs stricter laws. Nobody needs assault rifles for private use, and adults must keep their weapons safe without their children having access to them. Biden lamented that more children are killed by gunshots in the USA than by any other cause, such as illness or accidents.

In 2020, firearm injuries were the number one cause of death for children and young people in the USA for the first time, ahead of traffic accidents.