The FBI said there was no probable cause to arrest anyone at that time
Megan Varner/Getty
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith and other law enforcement members at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
The suspect accused of killing four people and wounding several others at a Georgia high school was questioned by police about alleged threats more than a year before the fatal shooting.
The accused gunman, identified as 14-year-old student Colt Gray, allegedly began shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., on Wednesday morning, Sept. 4, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. He was arrested after being confronted by a school resource officer, the GBI said.
In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta Division said it received anonymous tips in May 2023 about online threats, including photos of weapons, to commit a school shooting at an unknown time and location. Those threats led authorities to the then-13-year-old suspect.
“The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father,” FBI Atlanta continued in their statement. “The father stated that he had shotguns in his home, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online.”
Related: Georgia school shooting victims were 2 students, 2 teachers; teen suspect to be charged as adult
The FBI also said there was no probable cause for an arrest or further law enforcement action, but that local schools had been notified for “continued monitoring of the subject.”
Want to stay up-to-date on the latest crime reporting? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The four victims killed in the shooting have been identified by the GBI as students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspenwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53.
According to authorities, nine others were taken to various hospitals with injuries.
The suspected shooter will be charged with murder, GBI Director Chris Hosey said.
Winder, located in Barrow County, is approximately 50 miles outside of Atlanta.
Sign up for our newsletter for more People news!
Read the original article on People.
