RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – When a child hurts or kills someone with a gun, how much responsibility does a parent face? That question is being raised after a Michigan mom was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after her teenage son killed four people in a school shooting.
The mother of a mass shooter in Michigan didn’t fire a gun at anyone during the school shooting her son committed, but a jury convicted her of four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman says it’s rare to see a parent face such serious charges when a child commits a crime with a gun, but other adults have faced other similar charges in the Triangle.
In September, a woman was charged with aiding a minor in having a gun on educational property after police say a child brought a gun to Lead Mine Elementary School. Court records show a man pleaded guilty to failing to store a firearm to protect a minor, after police say a student shot out a window at Fuquay Varina Middle School in 2022, and the father of the accused teenage gunman in the Hedingham mass shooting is charged with failing to store a firearm to protect a minor, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.