FBI says Georgia high school shooting suspect was interviewed last year over alleged threats online

The FBI confirmed Wednesday that local law enforcement had already interviewed the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting, The New York Times reported. The interview took place just last year after the suspect reportedly discussed plans to carry out a shooting at his school.

The suspect in Wednesday's shooting, which killed four people and sent nine others to the hospital, was only 13 years old when the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received tips in May 2023 about threats on an online gaming site concerning a school shooting at “an unidentified location and time."

In a statement on X, the FBI noted that the threat included photos of guns.

When the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office first interviewed Gary and his father, officers determined that there were guns in the home, for hunting, but that the teen did not have unsupervised access to them. At the time, Gray denied making the online threats but local schools were informed as a precaution, Huff Post reported.

“At that time, there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state and federal level,” the FBI wrote in its statement.

After the fatal shooting Wednesday, the 14-year-old suspect surrendered to a school resource officer and is currently in custody. He is expected to face murder charges.