The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed that the agency received tips last year regarding the 14-year-old suspect who shot and killed two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday.
According to Fox News, law enforcement authorities arrested 14-year-old Colt Gray on Wednesday after four people were killed and nine others were wounded in a tragic mass shooting at Apalachee High School.
On Wednesday night, the FBI released a statement, saying, “In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time. The online threats contained photographs of guns.”
The FBI noted that within 24 hours of receiving the anonymous tips, the agency found that the online threat was made in Georgia. As a result, the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred matter to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for further action.
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“The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father,” the FBI added. “The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them.”
The FBI’s statement explained that the suspect denied posting threats online. According to Fox News, a report from the interviews conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office noted that the suspect “expressed concern that someone is accusing him of threatening to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner.”
The FBI reported that Jackson County notified schools in the area for “continued monitoring of the subject.” The FBI also noted, “At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels.”
In another update on Wednesday, the FBI confirmed that the individual identified as “the 13-year-old” is the suspect who was arrested following the mass shooting at Apalachee High School.
According to The Daily Wire, Apalachee High School received a threatening phone call on Wednesday prior to the shooting. The threat claimed that the high school would be the first of five different schools to experience mass shootings.
The Daily Wire also reported that Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said the school’s resource officers were able to quickly confront the shooter and force him to surrender. However, Hosey confirmed that two teachers and two 14-year-old students were shot and killed before Gray was arrested.
