The FBI has confirmed that the suspected gunman who killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others at a Georgia high school on Wednesday had been on the FBI’s radar as a possible threat since last year.
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 about threats posted online regarding a possible school shooting in May 2023.
Authorities said the threats included images of weapons.
Within 24 hours of receiving the anonymous tip, investigators determined that the threats originated in Georgia and referred the case to the Sheriff’s Office.
“The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office located a possible offender, a 13-year-old boy, and interviewed him and his father,” the FBI said. “The father stated he had hunting weapons in the house, but the offender did not have unsupervised access to them.”
On Wednesday, authorities identified Colt Gray, now 14, as the gunman who killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School. Gray turned himself in to authorities and was taken into custody after the shooting.
Suspect in Georgia high school shooting held in juvenile detention center
The student shooter accused of opening fire at Apalachee High School has been booked into the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, according to WSB-TV.
14-year-old Colt Gray is accused of killing four people and injuring nine others in the attack.
The Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center is located about an hour north of Apalachee High School in Winder.
Gray, a student at Apalachee High School, will be charged with murder and tried as an adult, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Towing company offers free services after Apalachee High School shooting
A towing company in Georgia is offering free services to students and teachers at Apalachee High School following Wednesday’s shooting.
The owner of All County Towing and Recovery told Fox5 Atlanta that they don’t want the shooting victims to return to school anytime soon, so they are offering free towing of vehicles parked in school parking lots.
At least five vehicles were towed from the property overnight, the owner added, pointing out that he used to go to that school and that the shooting victim, Richard Aspinwall, was his football coach.
FBI must ‘go back’ and review previous interactions with suspected shooter, former agent says
Former FBI agent Rob D’Amico told “Fox & Friends First” on Thursday that the FBI needs to “look back” and review its handling of previous interactions with Colt Gray, the suspected shooter who opened fire at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.
The comment comes after the FBI confirmed that Gray has been on its radar as a possible threat since last year. 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 about threats posted online regarding a possible school shooting in May 2023.
“When you get warnings like that, there’s not much you can do,” D’Amico said. “The local officers went out and questioned the father and son – he denied making those online threats. The father said the son didn’t have unfettered access to the weapons. They did what they could and then left because there was no reasonable cause to do otherwise.”
“And this actually happens all the time across the country and doesn’t lead to school shootings later on, but in this case it actually happened and they need to double check that everything was above board,” D’Amico added.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Authorities identify 2 teachers and 2 students as victims of Apalachee High School murder
Authorities have identified the four victims killed in the shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday morning when a student opened fire inside the school.
Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), said two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed in the shooting.
Hosey identified two students killed at Apalachee High School as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Hosey said math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irmie were also killed in the shooting.
One of the teacher victims, Aspinwall, was also a football coach at the school.
“Coach Aspinwell was one of the kindest teachers I have ever met. He always made it clear that he was there if I needed help with anything,” one student wrote in a tribute on Instagram.
