The FBI has confirmed that the 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooter, Colt Gray, a student at the Georgia school, was known to the agency as early as May 2023 after receiving “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.”
This comes after we learned that an unidentified individual also warned the high school via phone that it would be the first of five schools targeted with violence prior to the shooting on Wednesday.
Gray denied making the threats in an interview with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Per FBI Atlanta, “Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject,” but no additional action was taken.
The full statement released by FBI Atlanta at 7:49 pm ET on X reads,
FBI Atlanta responded earlier today to Apalachee High School following reports of an active shooter. Throughout the day FBI personnel have been coordinating with and supporting local and state law enforcement. The FBI will dedicate all available resources, as requested, to seek justice and bring closure for the victims and their families.
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. Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action.
The Jackson County Sheriffs’ Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father. The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.
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.
— FBI Atlanta (@FBIAtlanta) September 4, 2024
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation further confirmed that the FBI’s statement is in connection to the student who was taken into custody earlier.
Here’s the FBI statement in connection to the subject in custody for today’s shooting at Apalachee High School. https://t.co/pbeEIn1vMI
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) September 5, 2024
Another post on X points out that the FBI may have had knowledge of several other previous mass murderers in Buffalo, NY; Boulder, CO; Parkland Springs, FL; Sutherland Springs, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Orlando, FL; San Bernardino, CA; and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
It’s almost like you should stop chasing after parents who say things school boards don’t like and start DOING YOUR FUVKING JOB!!! pic.twitter.com/RMcqvXdWFM
— ☠️Bobby Powell☠️ (@LivesObi) September 5, 2024
The Gateway Pundit reported that the incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. at the school, located in Winder, Georgia, approximately 40 miles northeast of Atlanta. As of 2:23 p.m. ET, CNN confirmed that nine of the injured were transferred to local hospitals, while four people were confirmed dead at the scene.
The shooter was later identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray.
This is a developing story…
