Georgia shooter previously interviewed over online threats to commit school shooting, FBI says
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The alleged shooter who killed four people at a Georgia high school and wounded nine others Wednesday has previously made threats online to commit a school shooting, the FBI said.
In a joint statement, the FBI’s Atlanta field office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the agency’s National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous tip in May 2023 about threats posted online about a possible school shooting.
The threats contained images of weapons, the FBI said.
Within 24 hours, investigators determined the threats originated in Georgia and the case was referred to the sheriff’s office.
“The Jackson County Sheriffs’ Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father,” the FBI said. “The father stated that he had hunting weapons in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them.”
The boy denied the threats and authorities alerted local schools to monitor the child.
At the time, there was no reason to do so an arrestingauthorities said.
On Wednesday, authorities identified Colt Gray, 14, as the shooter who killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School. Gray surrendered to authorities and was taken into custody. He is expected to be charged as an adult for murder.
“As a follow-up to the joint statement just released, the subject identified as the 13-year-old is the same subject in custody related to today’s shooting at Apalachee High School,” the FBI said.
At the time, the family lived in Jackson County, according to an FBI source, but have since moved to Barrow County, Georgia.