Teen accused of Georgia high school shooting previously interviewed over online threats
Sep 5, 2024, 3:00 PM
WINDER, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 5: Police tape surrounds the perimeter of Apalachee High School on September 5, 2024 in Winder, Georgia. Two students and two teachers were shot and killed at the school on September 4, and a 14-year-old suspect, who is a student at the school, is in custody. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
(Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — The 14-year-old charged with killing four people and shooting several others at a Georgia high school on Wednesday was interviewed last year about online comments threatening to shoot up a school. Authorities said they didn’t have probable cause to arrest him in connection to the comments at the time, ABC News reported.
In May 2023, a tip to the FBI led authorities to interview the then-13-year-old teen and his father, ABC reported.
The tip centered on comments made on Discord, a messaging platform popular with gamers. The comments contained threats about committing a school shooting and included pictures of guns.
The interview didn’t result in anything. The teen told authorities he never made threats and law enforcement didn’t have enough to substantiate the teen’s involvement in the threat.
Karl Schmae, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, told Dave and Dujanovic that the incident last year was an example of the system working. It just wasn’t enough to stop Wednesday’s shooting.
Schmae said that federal and local authorities followed the correct steps and did what they could.
“At that time, when they interviewed a 13-year-old a year ago, there wasn’t enough probable cause to arrest him. So they went through all the steps, but they took it to the limit,” Schmae said. “This is just heartbreaking because the system actually worked the way it was supposed to and yet we still had this tragedy.”
What would probable cause look like?
Schmae said probable cause depends on the threat’s content because the First Amendment protects speech very broadly.
“Somebody could say something like ‘Hey, I hate my school. I think somebody should shoot it up…’ That’s actually going to be considered First Amendment stuff.”
Threats likely would have had to be specific to escalate the situation. The suspect would have to say something about attacking a school on a particular day or targeting specific people.
“Investigators would have been looking to see: was there any activity that showed he was taking overt steps?”
Overt steps might look like drawing up a map, a list of targets, stockpiling ammunition or practicing with a gun.
Without that kind of evidence, Schmae said there’s no probable cause. Police just had the interview to go on.
“I’m sure that the police were probably hoping that this put the fear of God into the kid and also to the parent, to this father,” Schmae said. “It really falls onto him [the father] to make sure that those firearms are secured.”
Schmae said once a case is closed, law enforcement just has to move on.
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