Colt Gray, the Georgia school shooter who “never talked” and had been on the FBI’s radar

In 2023, when he was 13 years old, Colt Gray, caught the attention of authorities. He had posted messages on the Internet threatening to carry out a shooting at his school Georgiain USA. He was not arrested because investigators found insufficient evidence against him. More than a year later, the minor opened fire on Wednesday at Apalachee High School, killing four people and wounding nine. This is what is known about the attacker who unleashed a new bloodbath in the educational system of the North American country.

Following Wednesday’s attack, Graynow 14 years old, was arrested and has been charged with murder as an adultThe teenager used an assault rifle to kill two students and two teachers in the hallway outside his algebra classroom.

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“In May 2023, the National Threat Operations Center of the FBI received several anonymous tips about threats on the Internet about the commission of a school shooting at an unidentified place and time”they said FBI and the Sheriff’s Office of Jackson County in a joint statement. The online threats contained photos of weapons, they said.

“Within 24 hours, the FBI determined that the Internet posting originated in Georgiaand the FBI Atlanta Field Office forwarded the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for further action,” they added.

The sheriff’s office then identified a possible suspect, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father, authorities said. The FBI confirmed the boy is the same person who is in custody for Wednesday’s fatal shooting.

“The father stated that he had hunting weapons in the house, but said that the subject did not have access to them without supervision.. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools to continue monitoring the subject,” agencies reported.

When the teen was asked about the threat, he told an investigator that “I would never say something like that, not even as a joke.”

“At that time, there was no probable cause for the arrest or for any further law enforcement action at the local, state or federal level.”they said.

According to the AP agency, the information reached the FBI of people in Australia and California who had seen comments made by a user of a chat group on the social media platform Discord.

Gray He is currently being held at the Gainesville Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice communications director Glenn Allen told CNN.

The New York Times reported that after the inspection carried out in the bedroom of the minorauthorities found evidence confirming their interest in other shootingsespecially because of the Parkland High School shooting in Floridawhere in 2018 Nikolas Cruzaged 19, murdered 14 teenagers and three adults.

How did the attack go?

Lyela Sayarath16, told CNN that Colt Gray sat next to him on Wednesday in a class algebra.

She added that he left class early, around 9:45 a.m. She thought he had gone to the bathroom or was skipping class, something he often did.

Toward the end of class, someone came over the loudspeakers and asked the classroom teacher to check his email, Lyela told CNN.

Shortly after, Gray appeared behind the classroom doorwhich was closed, Lyela said. Another student who approached the door jumped back when He saw that the teenager was carrying a gun.

“I guess he saw that we weren’t going to let him in,” Lyela said. “And I guess the classroom next door had its door open, so I think he started shooting in the classroom.”

At first, Lyela heard a burst of gunshots – about 10 to 15 – and then they came “one after the other,” she told CNN.

The students threw themselves to the ground and crawled to a corner.he narrated.

“It seemed like he hadn’t planned it very well or he wasn’t very good with the gun, because he didn’t try to shoot at our door. As soon as he saw that he couldn’t get in, he went to the next classroom,” he added.

Two officers The shooter was found minutes after the shots were reported.said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The teenager immediately surrendered and was arrested.

The suspect used an “AR-type weapon” [rifle de asalto]”Hosey said. The exact model of the weapon was not specified.

Authorities are investigating How the teenager obtained the gun and how he brought it into the schoolwhich has about 1,900 students.

“He was quiet and skipped classes”

Lyela Sayarath also said that Gray He was a “pretty quiet” boy.

“He never really spoke. He was quite quiet. Most of the time he wasn’t there, he just didn’t come to school or he skipped classes. But even when he spoke, it was one-word answers or just short sentences,” she said.I couldn’t tell you what his voice sounded like, or even describe his face. I was just there”.

He added that he was not surprised that he was the shooter. “When you think about shooters and how they act or the things they do, He’s usually the quiet guy or that’s the stereotype.and he was the one who fit that description in our class,” she told CNN.