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What we've learned about the 2023 Jackson County online threats investigation and the Apalachee High School shooting suspect

Jackson County deputies interviewed Colt Gray over a year ago while looking into school threats made online, but didn't have enough evidence for an arrest.

Cody Alcorn, Grace King, 11Alive Staff

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Published: 11:14 PM EDT September 6, 2024
Updated: 7:41 PM EDT September 7, 2024

Hours after the Apalachee High School shooting in Barrow County, Jackson County Sheriff Janis Magnum said the FBI Atlanta field office contacted her regarding the suspect, 14-year-old Colt Gray.

She said the agency mentioned an investigation her office conducted in May 2023, which was tied to the suspect, who was 13 at the time.

Sheriff Magnus said at first that the name "Colt Gray" didn’t ring a bell, and she couldn’t recall the specifics of the investigation because, again, it was over a year old.

Sheriff Magnum who had been at the Apalachee High School campus on Wednesday, assisting Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said she returned to her office in Jefferson to start hunting down the case file to get a better understanding of the investigation.

The FBI was going to release a statement, and she wanted to make sure she was aware of the facts of the case, now knowing it was tied to allegations that Gray threatened to carry out a shooting at an undisclosed middle school in 2023.

Sheriff Magnum said she supported the FBI in releasing the initial release as she wanted to be as transparent as possible in case their investigation from 2023 would play any role in the investigation into what unfolded inside Apalachee High School in Barrow County this week.

On Thursday, the day after the shooting, Sheriff Magnum released the entire investigation fact sheet that was completed on May 21, 2023.

Credit: Barrow County Sheriff's Office.
Colt Gray

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