The 14-year-old accused of killing two students and two teachers in a shooting attack at his high school made his first appearance at a courthouse in northern Georgia on Friday. About half an hour later, his father appeared in the same courtroom, rocking back and forth in a chair at the defense table throughout the brief proceeding.

The teenager, Colt Gray, faces four charges of felony murder. The father, Colin Gray, 54, is accused of allowing his son, a high school freshman, access to the military-style rifle used in the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., on Wednesday morning. Preliminary hearings for both were set for Dec. 4.

The teenager’s hearing in the Winder courtroom lasted less than 10 minutes. He appeared alongside a public defender, Zane Harmon, who told the judge that there was no request for bond.

The blond-haired suspect, whose face was not visible to cameras because he is a minor, briefly answered procedural questions from Judge Currie M. Mingledorff II before he was escorted out of the courtroom. He wore a green T-shirt with khaki pants and boots.

About half an hour later, the judge brought the teen back into the courtroom to tell him that because he is a minor, he would not face the death penalty. The maximum sentence for the crimes he is accused of would be life in prison, either with or without parole.

Family members of those killed in the shooting lined the first row of the courtroom and spilled into the second. They sat quietly, facing the judge. Some wiped their eyes.