Georgia shooter previously interviewed over online threats to commit school shooting, FBI says
The alleged shooter who killed four people at a Georgia high school and wounded nine others Wednesday previously made threats online to commit a school shooting, the FBI said.
In a joint statement, the FBI’s Atlanta field office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the agency’s National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous tip in May 2023 about threats posted online regarding a possible school shooting.
The threats contained images of guns, the FBI said.
Within 24 hours, investigators determined the threats originated in Georgia and the matter 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 he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them.”
The boy denied making the threats and authorities alerted local schools to monitor the child.
At the time, there was no cause to make an arrest, authorities said.
On Wednesday, authorities identified Colt Gray, 14, as the shooter who killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School. Gray surrender to authorities and was taken into custody. He is expected to charged as an adult with murder.
“As a follow to the Joint Statement just released, the subject referred to as the 13 year old is the same subject in custody related to today’s shootings at Apalachee High School,” the FBI said.
At the time, the family resided in Jackson County according to an FBI source, but have since relocated to Barrow County, Georgia.