Apalachee High School shooting | What we know about the suspected shooter
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified the shooter who killed two teachers, two students, and injured at least nine others at Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning as a 14-year-old student.
During a press conference, the GBI named Colt Gray as the shooter.
Investigators say he entered the building at around 10:20 a.m. and opened fire.
Law enforcement officers responded immediately and encountered the shooter, who dropped his weapon and surrendered.
Gray has reportedly been interviewed by investigators, but a motive behind the shooting has not been revealed.
Officials say Gray is now in custody at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. He will be charged as an adult.
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Colt Gray was on FBI’s radar 16 months before school shooting
The FBI, in a joint statement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, revealed Gray was on law enforcement’s radar more than a year before Wednesday’s school shooting.
The FBI’s National Threat Operations Center had received several anonymous tips about threats made online. The posts, made on a gaming website, included photographs of guns and the threat to shoot up an unknown school at an undisclosed time.
The FBI was able to track down the threat within 24 hours to Georgia. The FBI Atlanta Field Office relayed the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, which then brought the then-13-year-old boy and his father in for questioning.
"The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them," the FBI wrote in its release. "The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject."
Law enforcement officials say there was not enough probable cause for an arrest or further legal action.
In a statement posted to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, Sheriff Janis Mangum wrote in part:
"...we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the Apalachee High School, the victims’, their families, loved ones, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and all of Barrow County in the active shooter incident today."
The FBI has pledged all available resources in Wednesday’s investigation.
FOX 5 is working to gather more details.
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