FBI: Teenager accused of killing four people at a Georgia high school was subject of threat reports

ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) – The FBI believes the suspected shooter at a high school in Winder, Georgia, made an online threat in May 2023.

The FBI said its National Threat Operations Center had received several anonymous tips about “online threats to carry out a school shooting at an unknown location and time.”

The FBI said the Jackson County Sheriff's Office found a possible suspect, a 13-year-old boy later identified as Colt Gray, who was questioned along with his father.

The father told officers there were hunting weapons in the house, and the boy denied making the threats online. The FBI said there was no reason for an arrest at this time.

The teenager, now 14, is being held at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. He is accused of killing two students and two teachers and injuring nine other people at Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning.

He is expected to appear in court on Friday.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the slain students as 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo and the slain teachers as Christina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39.

The agency said nine other victims – eight students and a teacher – were taken to area hospitals. At least six of the victims, including two who were shot, were taken to the campus of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, according to hospital officials. The two people who were shot did not suffer life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Armed with an assault rifle, the teenager pointed the weapon at students in a school hallway when classmates refused to open the door for him to return to his algebra classroom, classmate Lyela Sayarath said, according to the Associated Press.

The teenager had earlier left second algebra class, and Sayarath assumed that the quiet student, who had recently been transferred, was skipping school again.

But he came back later and wanted to go back into the classroom. Some students tried to open the locked door, but backed away instead.

“I suspect they saw something but for some reason didn’t open the door,” Sayarath said.

As she looked through a window in the door, she saw the student turn around and heard a volley of gunshots.

“There were about 10 or 15 at a time, back to back,” she said.

The math students crouched on the floor and crawled around sporadically, looking for a safe corner in which to hide.

Two school security officers met the gunman minutes after receiving a report of shots fired, said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The teenager immediately turned himself in and was taken into custody.

The report of a shooting prompted a large number of police officers to Apalachee High School in Barrow County shortly before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The agency said the suspect will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.

According to officials, an AR platform style weapon was used.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said during a press conference that “something bad” happened at the school.

“First and foremost, I want to support our community. I want to express our condolences to our community, our school system, our children and our parents who had to witness this today,” Smith said.

“This is hitting us hard,” Governor Brian Kemp said at a press conference on Wednesday. “This is everyone's worst nightmare.”

“Jill and I mourn the deaths of those whose lives were cut short by more senseless gun violence, and think of all the survivors whose lives are forever changed. What should have been a joyful back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now become another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “Students across the country are learning to duck and take cover instead of learning to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal.”

At a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is ready to provide resources to Barrow County.

Garland said he was “devastated for the families affected by this terrible tragedy.”

Schools in Barrow County will remain closed for the rest of the week. The district is located about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to Georgia education records obtained by The Associated Press. According to the Barrow County School System, the school became the second-largest public high school in Barrow County when it opened in 2000. The school is named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.

Copyright 2024 WANF via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.