A 14-year-old boy has been indicted on murder charges for shooting four people dead at a US high school, police authorities said, adding that their investigation into the country's latest outburst of gun violence is ongoing.
The teen faces four felony murder counts after allegedly killing two fellow children, also aged 14, besides two teachers at Apalachee High School in the southern state of Georgia on Wednesday.
CNN, citing unnamed sources, reported that the gun used in the shooting - an AR 15-style assault rifle, it described - had been purchased for him by his father as a holiday gift.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said suspect Colt Gray would face his charges as an adult. It added that the suspect would appear in court for the first time on Friday and that more charges are coming.
"The investigation into the shooting at Apalachee HS is still active and ongoing," the agency tweeted on Thursday.
"This is day 2 of a very complex investigation and the integrity of the case is paramount," it added, noting that all four victims would be autopsied on Thursday.
The disturbing regularity of school shootings in the US, where guns outnumber people and regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax, makes the latest incident all too familiar.
Parental responsibility in mass shootings, particularly by minors, has increasingly come under the spotlight in recent months.
"How could you have an assault rifle, a weapon in a house, not locked up and knowing your kid knows where it is?" a frustrated President Joe Biden said to reporters in Wisconsin on Thursday.
"You've got to hold parents accountable if they let their child have access to these guns."
In April, the parents of a teenager who killed four in a school shooting in Michigan received 10 to 15 years in prison in a first-of-its-kind and highly watched case.
Jennifer Crumbley, 46, and her husband James, 47, were the first parents of a school shooter convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the US for the actions of their child.
While polls show that a majority of voters want stronger controls on the use and purchase of firearms, there is strong resistance from a powerful lobby to oppose gun ownership, and lawmakers have failed in repeated attempts to act.
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