FBI encountered suspect in Apalachee High School shooting more than a year ago

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Atlanta reported that it had been investigating 14 -year-old Colt Gray, principal suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, since May 2023.

In that regard, the FBI detailed that in May 2023, the National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous reports of online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time. The online threats contained photographs of weapons.

"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 bureau said in statement published on its official website.

The FBI explained that the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at that time located a possible suspect, a 13-year-old boy, and interviewed him and his father. The father stated that he had hunting guns in the house, but the juvenile did not have unsupervised access to them.

Also, the juvenile denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools to be on the lookout for the juvenile. It detailed that at that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or any additional law enforcement action at the local, state or federal level.

"To confirm, the subject referred to as the 13 year old is the same subject in custody related to today's shootings at Apalachee High School," the office maintained.