Yasmeen Hamadeh
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Atlanta department has shared that they previously investigated the suspect behind a school shooting earlier today.
On Wednesday (September 4) morning, a 14-year-old suspect identified as Colt Gray opened fire at the Apalachee High School located an hour outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
Gray was a student at the school and has been arrested by authorities who shared in a news conference that he will be charged with murder and tried as an adult.
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Four people died, including two teachers and two students, and at least nine others were injured according to Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Chris Hosey.
The FBI's Atlanta division has since released a statement clarifying that they previously inspected Gray on suspicion of a planned shooting last year.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the FBI wrote: "FBI Atlanta responded earlier today to Apalachee High School following reports of an active shooter. Throughout the day FBI personnel have been coordinating with and supporting local and state law enforcement.
"The FBI will dedicate all available resources, as requested, to seek justice and bring closure for the victims and their families.
"In May 2023, the FBI's National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time.
"The online threats contained photographs of guns. 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 Jackson County Sheriff's Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father. The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them.
"The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.
"At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal levels."
In a follow-up post, the FBI's Atlanta unit added: "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."
Hosey shared in a news conference that Gray 'immediately surrendered' to officers and was 'taken into custody.'
Investigations into the shooting are still ongoing.
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