The FBI has confirmed that the 14-year-old suspect in the tragic mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia was previously investigated for online threats of a school shooting.
The attack on Wednesday left two students and two teachers dead, and nine others wounded. The suspect, who surrendered to authorities after the rampage, is expected to be charged as an adult with murder.
According to a joint statement from the FBI’s Atlanta field office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the agency’s National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous tip in May 2023 about online threats regarding a possible school shooting.
The threats, which included images of guns, were traced to Georgia within 24 hours.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office interviewed the then 13-year-old and his father. At the time, the suspect’s father stated that while there were hunting guns in the house, his son did not have unsupervised access to them. The suspect denied making the threats, and local schools were alerted to monitor him.
“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,” the FBI stated.
The family has since relocated from Jackson County to Barrow County, where Wednesday’s shooting took place.
Authorities are still investigating if anyone was specifically targeted in the attack. Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said they were “looking into every aspect of that individual, his connection here at the school.”
While the identities of most victims have not been released, Katie Phenix came forward on Facebook to share that her father, David Phenix, was shot in the foot and hip during the incident. He is reportedly stable after surgery.
In response to the tragedy, the Barrow County School System has closed all its schools for the remainder of the week.
Superintendent Dallas LeDuff announced that the district will “cooperate fully with law enforcement” and that grief counseling would be available.