Barrow County schools are closed today and will remain closed for the remainder of this week following Wednesday’s deadly shooting at Appalachee High School.
The GBI Wednesday night identified the victims of the mass shooting. They are 14-year-old freshmen Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and math teachers Christine Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, who also served as an assistant football coach for the Apalachee Wildcats.
Nine other victims, including eight students and one teacher, were taken to hospitals following the shooting, according to the GBI.
During an evening press conference on September 4, GBI Director Chris Hosey said the accused gunman — Colt Gray — was due to be booked Wednesday night. The 14-year-old Apalachee High School student has been charged with murder as an adult. Hosey said the gun that Gray used was an AR platform weapon.
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Suspect made previous threats, FBI says
According to the FBI, Gray was investigated last year in connection with threats made to the Jackson County School System.
The agency released a statement saying that 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,” according to the statement.
Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum says the threats traced back to an online gaming site and that her office conducted a “thorough investigation.”
Investigators spoke with the then-13-year-old Gray 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.
“During the course of this investigation, the gaming site threats could not be substantiated,” Mangum says. “The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.”
The FBI says 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.”
Preliminary information from Wednesday’s mass shooting reveals that around 10:20 a.m., Barrow County authorities received alerts about reports of an active shooter. Radio chatter from an Apalachee High School resource officer also indicated an active shooter, the GBI says.
The agency says that law enforcement was at the school “within minutes.”
“Once on scene, law enforcement immediately located Gray. Gray surrendered immediately and was taken into custody,” the GBI says.
‘No evidence’ of other shooters, threats
The agency sought to lay to rest reports of additional shooters at Apalachee and supposed threats to other schools.
“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that there were additional shooters. Investigators are actively pursuing all leads regarding any potential associates of the shooter,” the GBI says.
State investigators also said there is no evidence of a list of schools being targeted but added that evidence is still being recovered and evaluated.
The GBI states, “Investigators are diligently reviewing leads to determine if there are any active threats.”
Investigators did say there was a call to another local high school Wednesday morning with a reported threat. After responding and investigating, the GBI says police “determined there was no threat.”
