US school shooting suspect, 14, was known to FBI a year before over threats of similar attack - as four victims named

5 September 2024, 07:46 | Updated: 5 September 2024, 07:55

A 14-year-old school shooting suspect was known to the FBI a year before over similar threats of an attack.

Two students and two teachers were killed with a further nine injured during the school shooting in Georgia.

The students were named as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, while the teachers were Richard Aspinwall, 39, and 53-year-old Christina Irimie.

Christian Angulo's sister described him as "a very good kid and very sweet and so caring".

"He was so loved by many. His loss was so sudden and unexpected.. We are truly heartbroken.. He really didn't deserve this," Lisette Angulo said.

Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, was placed under lockdown after school officials reported hearing gunfire on Wednesday.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation named 14-year-old student Colt Gray as the primary suspect in the tragic shooting.

The teen has been charged with murder.

In a statement, the FBI said it had alerted local authorities in May 2023, after it received anonymous tips about "online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time".

It was determined within 24 hours that the threat was in Georgia.

Local police interviewed the boy and his father, who said he "had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them".

The suspect, who was 13 at the time, denied making online threats.

"At the time, there was no probable cause for an arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state or federal levels," the FBI said.

Shortly before 10.30am "officers from multiple law enforcement agencies and Fire/EMS personnel were dispatched to the high school in reference to a reported active shooting", the sheriff's office statement said.

"Casualties have been reported, however, details on the number or their conditions is not available at this time," the statement added.

As law enforcement swarmed the school, students rushed for shelter in the campus football stadium.

Teacher Camille Nelms said she was in tears as the shooter opened fire on her classroom.

She told NBC: "I was crying, I didn't want to die that way.

"I don't want to meet the Lord that way."

President Biden has said he is "mourning" the tragic loss of life on what should have been a "joyous" return to school.

“What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart. Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal,” the president said in a statement.

The Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith initially told reporters: "Multiple people were wounded in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder".

He added the investigation was "very, very fluid" and it was in the early stages.

"What you see behind us is an evil thing today," Sheriff Smith continued.

"I want to give our sympathies to our community, our school system, our kids, our parents that had to witness this today."

The school has now been cleared with students released to their families, according to local media.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said: “I have directed all available state resources to respond to the incident at Apalachee High School and urge all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state.

“We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners as we gather information and further respond to this situation.”

In a statement, the FBI’s Atlanta office said: “FBI Atlanta is aware of the current situation at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.

“Our agents are on scene coordinating with and supporting local law enforcement.”

Calls and messages to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office and the school were not immediately returned.

Apalachee High School has about 1,900 students, according to records from Georgia education officials. It became Barrow County's second largest public high school when it opened in 2000, according to the Barrow County School System

It is named after the Apalachee River on the southern edge of Barrow County.