A U.S teenage boy suspected of killing four people and injuring nine others in a school shooting was reportedly questioned last year regarding threats made anonymously on the internet, according to the FBI.
Colt Gray, a 14-year-old suspect, has been taken into custody by authorities after they surrounded Apalachee High School in Winder, Barrow County, Georgia.
The suspect, a pupil at the institution, is being prosecuted as an adult and faces murder charges. Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Chris Hosey, stated at a press conference.
The deceased victims were 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, according to Hosey.
According to the school’s website, the two adults were both math teachers and Aspinwall was also an assistant football coach.
Eight students and one teacher were also taken to hospitals following the Wednesday morning shooting, according to the GBI.
Hosey said the gun was an AR-platform weapon, while further reports suggest the weapon was an AR-15-style.
The gunfire sent students and faculty desperately scurrying for cover as schools across the county went into lockdown and parents scrambled for information.
The FBI said it had investigated online threats to commit a school shooting in May 2023 the FBI received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” according to a joint statement from the FBI’s Atlanta office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Local law enforcement interviewed a 13-year-old subject and his father in nearby Jackson County.
The statement did not identify the teen, but Georgia officials said the statement was in connection to the subject in custody.
At the time he denied making threats online, the FBI said.
“The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” it said in a statement, adding that there was no probable cause to make an arrest.
The FBI said there was no probable cause for an arrest at the time.
Shortly before 10.30am local time “officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting”, a statement from the sheriff’s office said.
Mr. Caldera, 17, said his teacher opened the door and another teacher ran in to tell her to shut it “because there’s an active shooter.”
The White House said in a statement that Joe Biden had been briefed “and his administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials.
