The father of the alleged Georgia school shooter claimed his son was bullied by classmates, who reportedly called him gay, which created a “very difficult” situation for him.
“It was very difficult for him to go to school and not get picked on,” the shooter’s father said.
“It went from one thing to another. I was trying to get him on the golf team. They said ‘oh look, Colt’s gay. He’s dating that guy.’ Just ridiculed him day after day after day,” he continued.
The shooting, which occurred at a Georgia high school, has raised questions about the role bullying may have played in the incident.
Authorities are investigating the claims while the incident continues to be processed by law enforcement and the school community.
Earlier this week, the FBI admitted they received anonymous tips on threats against the suspect a year ago.
The suspect was interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in 2023, according to a statement from the FBI.
“In May 2023, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting at an unidentified location and time,” the statement said. “The online threatscontained photographs of guns. Within 24 hours, the FBI determined the online post originated in Georgia and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office referred the information to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for action.”
“The Jackson County Sheriffs’ Office located a possible subject, a 13-year-old male, and interviewed him and his father,” the statement added. “The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online. Jackson County alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.”
At the time, there was “no probably cause for arrest,” the FBI explained.
