Report sheds light on 2023 threats linked to Apalachee shooting suspect
WINDER, Ga. - An incident report is shedding light on a 2023 suspected threat incident the 14-year-old suspect in the Wednesday Apalachee High School shooting was believed to be involved in.
Colt Gray, a student at the high school, faces murder charges in connection to the deadly shooting that claimed the lives of two students and two teachers.
On May 21, 2023, a Jackson County deputy looked into a tip from the FBI about a threat to shoot up a middle school. The threat was made through the instant messaging platform Discord, the incident report states.
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Colt Gray, 14, is the suspected gunman in the shooting that left two students and two teachers dead and nine others hospitalized.
Deputies went to a home on River Mist Circle in Jefferson after checking a previous home where Gray used to live.
Deputies spoke with Gray and his father. Gray told deputies that he used to have a Discord but “deleted it prior to moving from their previous address” about three months before. The report later states Gray and his father moved in May.
The report states Gray “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.”
Gray’s father said there were hunting rifles in the home and that Gray was “allowed to use them when supervised but does not have unfettered access to them.”
The incident report states that the FBI tip was reviewed further on May 23. Tips were received from several IP addresses, but the exact location was unclear.
PHOTO GALLERY | THE VICTIMS:
The report states the tip included information on the Discord , and that the email associated with it belonged to Gray. It also says that the was created on April 2, which falls outside the time frame Gray said he deleted his .
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The report states there was “inconsistent information” in the tip. IP addresses show the Discord was used in Fort Valley and Statesboro, but also in Buffalo, NY and northern Virginia. The Discord name was also in Russian, and the phone number on the was listed as a LaGrange phone number.
A translation of the Russian letters spelled out “Lanza,” which investigators believed referred to Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter.
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Apalachee High School is in Barrow County about 40 miles north of Atlanta, with about 1,900 students and a staff of more than 150. It’s also the site of the nation’s latest deadly school shooting.
A deputy spoke to Gray and his father once again. Gray told authorities he stopped using his Discord because “too many people kept hacking his and he was afraid someone would use his information for nefarious purposes.”
The father and son also told the deputy they did not know the email address or speak Russian.
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“At this time, due to the inconsistent nature of the information received by the FBI, the allegation that Colt or (his father) is the behind the Discord that made the threat cannot be substantiated,” the report states.
By the numbers
The Gun Violence Archive said that in Georgia schools since 2022, there have been:
- 97 gun incidents
- Five gun fatalities
- 17 gun injuries
- 72 arrests for gun incidents
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