A 14-year-old Georgia student has been charged with making terroristic threats against a school just hours after the deadly shooting at nearby Apalachee High School, police said Thursday.
The unidentified teenager is being held at the Regional Youth Detention Center on charges of terroristic threats and disrupting the operation of a public school, the Gainesville Police Department announced.
Authorities were made aware of the troubling threats circulating online late Wednesday, police said.
Gainesville is just over 25 miles from Winder, where two teachers and two students were gunned down in a shooting at Apalachee High School on Wednesday morning.
“Given the recent tragedy in neighboring Barrow County, many jurisdictions have been dealing with hoax or false information being passed around,” the Gainesville police said.
The Gainesville threats were determined not to be connected to the Apalachee shooting.
“Our primary goal is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff,” Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish said.
“Our hearts are broken surrounding the heinous attack at Apalachee High School in our neighboring community. Hoax or not, we will actively investigate every threat or possible action to any school or student.”
The suspect in the Apalachee shooting was identified as student Colt Gray, 14, who surrendered to school resources officers at the scene and was arrested.
The tragic Georgia high school shooting: Here’s what’s known so far
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- Pictured: Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, 14, whose aunt says he was ‘begging for help’
- Another Georgia 14-year-old charged for making school threats just hours after deadly Apalachee shooting nearby
- Georgia shooting student survivor reveals how he narrowly avoided gunman
He is expected to be charged as an adult for the deaths of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Christina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14.
His first court appearance is set for Friday.
A horrifying video taken in the moments after the shooting rampage showed traumatized students being evacuated through a school hallway with the gunman’s discarded weapon still lying on the floor.
A body covered by a blood-spattered white sheet is also lying nearby as the students walk by.
The exact manufacturer of the gun is still unknown, but authorities confirmed that the AR-style weapon was used in the morning shooting.
Gray was investigated by the FBI last year for allegedly making school shooting threats online, the agency confirmed.
Gray’s father told the authorities that there were hunting weapons in their home, but insisted that his son — then just 13 — did not have unsupervised access to them.
The motive behind Wednesday’s attack is still under investigation.
