The 14-year-old boy accused of killing two fellow students and two teachers at his Georgia high school made his first court appearance Friday. His father, who was arrested Thursday night, is scheduled to appear shortly afterward.

Colt Gray appeared in person, dressed in green prison garb and with his hands and ankles shackled to his waist, at the hearing at the Barrow County Courthouse. It had been previously assumed that he would attend via video link. He traveled from the juvenile detention center where he is being held, where he is being held as a juvenile, although he is expected to be tried as an adult.

The suspect has been charged with four counts of murder after he was arrested Wednesday following a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta. Four people were fatally shot: students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Another nine people were injured, seven of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

The younger Gray did not enter a plea on Friday, but did answer yes when the judge asked him if he could read and write. He was accompanied by a lawyer.

Judge Currie Mingledorff initially told the 14-year-old boy that he faced the death penalty. However, he later brought the boy back to court to tell him that because he is under 18, he does not face the death penalty. If found guilty, he faces the maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The teenager sat about 10 feet in front of a public bench filled with 18 parents and other family members of the four victims who were killed.

The parents of Mason Schermerhorn, one of the two 14-year-old students killed in the shooting, were among the family members. The boy’s mother held a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal in her lap — her son was looking forward to an upcoming vacation to Walt Disney World. Family members could be seen wiping away tears and trying to comfort each other.

The teenager’s father, Colin Gray, 54, was brought into court in handcuffs about an hour after his son, dressed in a gray and white prison gown.

He rocked back and forth and could be heard crying as he was read his rights. He was told he could face a total of 180 years in prison for two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children.

On Thursday night, CNN reported that Colin Gray told investigators this week that he gave the AR-15-style rifle to his son as a Christmas present last December after purchasing it at a local gun store. That would have been seven months after the FBI questioned both the father and son in May 2023 after they were tipped off about threats to commit a school shooting that had been posted on the gaming social media platform Discord.

That investigation was eventually closed because investigators were unable to substantiate the threats.

Father and son are due in court on December 4 for a preliminary hearing.