A Jackson County sheriff whose office interviewed the Apalachee High School shooting suspect and his father about online school shooting threats last year said the teen’s then-school district was not notified about the investigation.
In May 2023, Colin Gray and his 13-year-old son were interviewed after the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips linking the teen to threats about shooting up a middle school. Investigators said there was no probable cause for an arrest but a former Jackson County Sheriff’s Office captain sent a note to the FBI saying that “we have made area schools aware and will monitor this subject,” according to the sheriff’s office. The FBI also said in a statement that Jackson County “alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject,” ABC News reports.
RELATED: Mother of Apalachee Shooting Suspect Called to Warn School 30 Minutes Before Attack
However, in a news release issued two days after the Apalachee shooting, Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said that “after speaking with Dr. Donna McMullan with the Jefferson City Schools On September 5, 2024, it came to my attention they had no record of being notified of a threat by Colt Gray who was enrolled there.” The miscommunication raises questions about whether the district could have forwarded that information to Barrow County Schools, which the suspect transferred to just two weeks ago.
2023 Investigation Into Apalachee School Shooting Suspect Was ‘Done Thoroughly,’ Sheriff Says
When asked by ABC News on Monday if her office “dropped the ball,” Mangum said not on the investigation but “probably” on notifying the district. Mangum said the 2023 investigation was “done thoroughly” but that she cannot provide an answer about why the district wasn’t informed. Some personnel who worked on the case left the office before last week’s shooting, she said.
“Because I don’t know. If you say area schools are notified, who did you talk to and what school did you talk to?” she continued. “I don’t know.”
Mangum said her office was looking into emails to see if they could find any additional paper trails but that they only have the note the former captain sent to the FBI. She told ABC News she hasn’t spoken to the former captain and the former investigator who interviewed the suspect, noting she didn’t know if the former captain made calls to any area schools.
Other Miscommunications Made Leading Up to Apalachee High School Shooting
A witness account suggests there was miscommunication within the school district leading up to the shooting, also raising questions on whether it impacted the outcome.
Thirty minutes before the attack, the suspect’s mother called the school and alerted a counselor that there was an “extreme emergency” involving her son, the Washington Post reports. After receiving the call, an administrator went to the boy’s math class. Classmate Lyela Sayarath told The Post that there seemed to be confusion because another student in the class had a name similar to the suspect’s. The admin was there looking for that student but he had gone to the bathroom. The admin subsequently took the student’s backpack and left the class.
Shortly after, Sayarath said the student with a similar name returned with his backpack and told her that an adult in the hallway asked him about a first-period teacher he didn’t have. He told that person he thought they might be looking for another similarly named student. Sayarath said a voice then came over the intercom asking the teacher to check her email. Moments later, the suspect approached the classroom and the teacher said back to the person on the intercom, “Oh, he’s here.” A student went to let the boy back in but noticed he had a gun and backed away. Gunfire erupted seconds later.
RELATED: Father of Apalachee High School Shooter Arrested, Charged with Second-Degree Murder
Killed in the shooting were 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall, 53-year-old Christina Irimie, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. The suspect has been charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder. Prosecutors said more charges will be filed.
His father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children in the second degree. He is accused of “knowingly allowing” his son to possess a weapon. Gray purchased the gun used in the shooting as a Christmas present for his son in Dec. 2023 — just seven months after they were both interviewed by law enforcement.
The father and son both made their first court appearances on Friday. Neither has entered a plea and both are set to return to court on Dec. 4.
