Father of Georgia shooting suspect tells investigators he bought gun for son as holiday gift after FBI investigation

The father of the suspect in the Georgia school shooting that left four people dead Wednesday reportedly bought his son a high-caliber rifle late last year, a purchase that came months after police investigated the teen for potentially making online threats about a school shooting.

Colin Gray, the father of suspected Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, told investigators this week that he bought the 14-year-old the AR 15-style rifle used in the fatal shooting as a Christmas gift in December 2023, law enforcement sources told CNN.

In May 2023, the FBI Received a Tip about online threats about a school shooting. They traced the threats to Georgia and forwarded the information to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which interviewed the Gray family.

Colin Gray said he kept hunting guns in the house, but that Colt did not have unsupervised access to them. Colt, meanwhile, denied making any threats online.

Police notified local schools and no probable cause for arrest was found at the time, according to the FBI.

According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there is no minimum age requirement to own a gun under federal and state gun laws, but people must be 18 or older to purchase one under both sets of rules.

The military-style AR rifle is a high-powered weapon that has been used in security threats across the country, including the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, and in about 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings since 2012.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated with new information..