A 14-year-old student suspected of fatally shooting four people at his Georgia high school on Wednesday was previously being investigated in connection with threats to commit a school shooting, federal authorities said.
The suspect, who was 13 at the time, was suspected of making online threats last year that included photos of weapons, the FBI’s Atlanta office said in a joint statement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Within 24 hours, police officers questioned the suspected shooter, who was not named in the affidavit but was previously identified by local authorities as Colt Gray, in connection with the threats, the affidavit said.
The suspect denied making the threats, the affidavit said. His father, who was also questioned, told investigators he had hunting rifles in the home but his son did not have unescorted access to them, the affidavit said.
Authorities have instructed local schools to continue monitoring the suspect, the statement said, but there was no probable cause to arrest him. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said authorities are investigating whether the 2023 threat is related to Wednesday’s shooting.
The shooting was reported around 10:20 a.m. at Apalachee High School, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta, Hosey said. The teen immediately surrendered after a deputy working as a school resource officer “attacked” him, authorities said.
“The shooter quickly realized that if he didn’t give up, it was going to end with an OIS,” Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said at a news conference, using the abbreviation for an officer-involved shooting.
“He got down on the ground and the officer took him away,” Smith said.
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Four people were killed after the gunman opened fire with what Hosey described as an “AR platform weapon.”
The agency identified them as 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
Both Aspinwall and Irimie were math teachers, according to the school’s website. Aspinwall (whose name also goes by the name) was a defensive coordinator for the football team.
Nine other people — eight teachers and one student — were wounded in the shooting, the agency said in a statement. The statement did not name the victims.
Hosey said the suspect will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
A possible motive remained unclear, and Smith said it was not known whether the suspect had specific targets in mind when he allegedly opened fire, Smith said. The sheriff said investigators from his office and the state law enforcement agency were questioning the teen.
According to Smith, the injured are expected to recover.
The superintendent of the Barrow County School District, which includes Apalachee High School, said schools would remain closed for the rest of the week “while we fully cooperate to get answers to the many questions we have about what happened here.”
Smith, who said his children attend school, described the shooting as “personal.”
“My heart hurts for these children,” he said. “My heart hurts for this community.”
“Hate will not triumph,” he added. “Love will triumph.”
The Republican and Democratic presidential candidates responded to the shooting, with Donald Trump calling the gunman “sick and deranged” on his social media platform, and Kamala Harris telling a rally in New Hampshire that “we must end this epidemic of gun violence.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said he was “heartbroken” by the shooting.
“This is a day that every parent dreads, and Georgians around the world will hug their children even tighter tonight because of this painful event,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
