Apalachee High School Shooting: Who is Colt Gray, suspected Georgia school shooter?

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A 14-year-old high school student is accused of opening fire at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, on Wednesday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the gunman as Colt Gray.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said a school resource officer engaged Gray after the shooting began. Gray then surrendered and was taken into custody, WSB reported.

Smith said Gray surrendered because he realized if he didn’t he would have been shot. Officials said he had an AR platform-style weapon. Officials are trying to determine how he got the weapon, The New York Times reported.

He was a student at the high school but it is not known if he had a connection to the victims, CNN reported.

Gray was interviewed by investigators from the sheriff’s office as well as the GBI and his statements were helping the investigation.

Student Lyela Sayarath said Gray left their Algebra class at about 9:45 a.m., but when he returned at the end of class, he knocked to get back into the room. When another student went to open the door, the classmate noticed the gun and didn’t let Gray in, that is when Lyela said Gray went to the room next door and started shooting, CNN reported.

Gray was already on law enforcement’s radar before Wednesday’s deadly shooting, federal officials said. He had been investigated last year for making threats against the school but was not charged.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI Atlanta field office said that the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center had several anonymous tips about threats of a school shooting that had been posted on an online gaming site.

The FBI was tipped off by people in Australia and California after they grew concerned about posts made on Discord. The FBI then informed the Jackson County sheriff, The Associated Press reported.

The sheriff interviewed Gray, who was 13 at the time, and his father, who told officials that the family owned hunting rifles but that his son did not have access to them.

When questioned about the Discord account, Gray told investigators that he had deleted his account before he and his father had moved to their new home. The Discord account that concerned other users was made after Gray said his account was deleted, officials said.

It also had several IP addresses from Georgia, New York and Virginia while having a user name “written in Russian. Translation of the Russian letters spells out the name Lanza, referring to Adam Lansa, who is the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooter in Newton, Conn.” the incident report said.

Gray’s father said his son did not have the email address listed on the account and did not know or speak Russian. Gray told investigators that “he stopped using Discord because too many people kept hacking his account and he was afraid someone would use his information for nefarious purposes.”

“Colt expressed concern that someone is accusing him of threatening to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner,” the Jackson County sheriff’s incident report said, according to WSB.

Officials did alert local schools, the Times reported. Deputies told his father to keep Gray out of school until it was “resolved,” WSB reported.

The GBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms searched Gray’s home on Wednesday evening collecting evidence.

The alleged gunman was taken to Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. He has been charged with murder and will be treated as an adult, the GBI said.

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Shooting At Apalachee High School In Winder, Georgia Leaves 4 Dead WINDER, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 4: A law enforcement officer holds a roll of caution tape after a shooting at Apalachee High School on September 4, 2024 in Winder, Georgia. Multiple fatalities and injuries have been reported and a suspect is in custody according to authorities.(Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images) (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

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