A teenager accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School in Barrow County was previously investigated for threats about a shooting, the FBI Atlanta office said late Wednesday.
Colt Gray, 14, was charged with murder after Wednesday’s shooting, according to investigators. He was not charged after an investigation last year.
In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about threats to commit a school shooting made on an online gaming site, the FBI and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The threats didn’t identify a school or when it would happen, but they contained pictures of guns.
Investigators tracked the post to Georgia and to Jackson County, where sheriff’s deputies continued the investigation. A 13-year-old, Colt Gray, was interviewed along with his father, an FBI spokesman said.
“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” the FBI said. “The subject denied making the threats online.”
The Jackson sheriff’s office alerted local schools at the time, and Gray was monitored, the FBI said.
“A thorough investigation was conducted,” Jackson Sheriff Janis Mangum said in a Facebook post. “During the course of this investigation, the gaming site threats could not be substantiated.”
No charges were filed, investigators said.
“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,” the FBI said.
Investigators have not said what type of gun was used in Wednesday’s shooting.
“My phone is blowing up with messages from people about social media postings about other possible incidents,” Mangum said. “To my knowledge, there is not a list indicating any of this.”
Mangum said her office extended sympathies to all of those affected by the shooting Wednesday.
“This is an ongoing investigation at Apalachee,” she said. “Please be mindful of those who have been affected by this tragedy and continue to pray for all involved.”
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