The suspect who allegedly opened fire at a Georgia school on Wednesday morning, September 4, has been identified as Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at the school. Gray, who is in custody, used an AR-15 style rifle to carry out the shooting, a law enforcement official told CNN. He will be charged with murder as an adult, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said.
Two teachers and two students died when Gray opened fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, which is about an hour outside of Atlanta. At least nine other people were hospitalised.
Who is Colt Gray?
It has been revealed that last year, Gray was questioned by law enforcement regarding “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” according to a joint statement from FBI Atlanta and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. The threats included photos of guns.
At the time, both the suspect and his father were interviewed by the county sheriff’s office. “The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them,” the statement read. “The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.”
“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 statement added.
{{/usCountry}}“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 statement added.
{{/usCountry}}Gray’s motivations for the attack are unclear. It seemed he had no previous connection to the victims.
Lyela Sayarath, a junior at the school, described Gray as “pretty quiet.” "He never really talked. He wasn't there most times. Either he didn't just come to school or he would just skip class," the 16-year-old student told CNN.
"Even when he would've talked it was just one-word answers or short statements,” Sayarath added.
Sayarath was sitting next to Gray in math class moments before the shooting. She said she was not surprised that Gray was the shooter. "Just because of when you think of shooters and how they act or things that they do, it's normally the quiet kid," Sayarath said.
Sayarath recalled that Gray left the math class at the start of the period and then returned near the end of it. The doors automatically lock when shut, and Gray was not allowed inside when he returned. Sayarath said someone over the loudspeaker told her teacher to check her email, and moments later, Gray was asking to be let in.
“They almost let him in, but I’m pretty sure she saw that he had a gun and so she backed away,” Sayarath said. “And then he turned away and that’s when you hear like the first round of fire.”
Gray had entered another classroom and opened fire. He was taken into custody just minutes after the shooting began.