FBI says local law enforcement investigated GA shooter in 2023, found no probable cause
The FBI claims the bureau did not directly investigate the suspect behind the tragic Georgia high school mass shooting this week.
The student shooter accused of opening fire at Apalachee High School on Wednesday was anonymously reported to the FBI in 2023 over online threats and “possibly threatened to shoot up a middle school” in a group chat on messaging app Discord.
Fox News Digital spoke with representatives of the FBI in Atlanta, who said the bureau had not interview the suspect and had not gone to his home. Instead, the FBI provided the information from the anonymous tip to the Jackson County Sheriff.
Local law enforcement officers with the sheriff’s department conducted a deeper investigation and interviewed the father of the suspect, documented in a report that could not substantiate the threats.
VIDEOS TAKEN INSIDE APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL SHOW GUN, ORDERED EVACUATIONS
People attend a vigil at Jug Tavern Park following a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage)
During the investigation, the suspect “expressed concern that someone is accusing him of threatening to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner,” according to a report from the interviews.
The officer investigating the anonymous tips found that the information sent to the FBI was communicated via various IP addresses across the world: Palmdale, California; Los Angeles, California; and Cockburn, Australia. He also reviewed the email address and phone number related to the case — as well as the user profile linked to the threats.
The profile name, written in Russian, referenced the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY TWO TEACHERS, TWO STUDENTS AS VICTIMS KILLED
A screenshot from a video shows the alleged shooter’s weapon used in the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. (Alexsandra Romero/Joel Romero via Storyful)
“[The Apalachee suspect] stated he stopped using Discord because too many people kept hacking his account, and he was afraid someone would use his information for nefarious purposes,” according to the report.
“At this time, due to the inconsistent nature of the information received by the FBI, the allegation that [the Apalachee shooting suspect or his father] is the user behind the Discord account that made the threat cannot be substantiated,” the investigating officer wrote in 2023. “This case will be exceptionally cleared.”
An FBI source told Fox News Digital that if there is no immediate threat to life, it is protocol to inform local law enforcement, provide information, and have them investigate tips.
“There’s only so much you can do when you get those warnings,” former FBI agent Rob D’Amico told “FOX & Friends First” on Thursday.
Cars are parked on the sides of a road as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage)
“The local officers went out and interviewed the father, interviewed the son — he denied making those online threats,” D’Amico continued. “The father said that the son did not have unfettered access to the weapons. They did what they could, and then they left because there was no probable cause to take other action.”
A spokesperson for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tells Fox News Digital that the parents of the suspected shooter “have been cooperative up until this point.”
The comment came in response to a question regarding whether authorities are investigating the shooter’s parents in the wake of Wednesday’s attack, which left four dead and nine others injured.
The suspect has been booked into the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, according to WSB-TV. The Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center is located about an hour north of Apalachee High School in Winder.
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Women cry while attending the vigil at Jug Tavern Park following a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. (Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage)
Matthew Fagiana, a retired police sergeant and law enforcement consultant, told Fox News Digital that responding officials are zeroing in on the 14-year-old suspect’s past and motive at the start of the investigation.
“Things such as the timeline of the incident. A chronological history of the suspect leading up to the shooting, a deep look into the suspect’s past for things such as interactions with the victims, the existence of any indications of violent behavior, statements or social media posts that could help them develop a motive, and recent internet history,” he said.
“And that, of course, only scratches the surface of the investigation,” he added.
Fagiana noted that responding agencies, including the FBI’s Atlanta field office and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, are combing the scene of Apalachee High School to construct an “accurate picture” of the suspect’s pathway through the school.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
