Jackson County Sheriff's body camera footage from May 2023 Interview The boy who allegedly attacked Apalachee High School denied making any threats, and officers took him at his word.
Breitbart News reported that the FBI had notified them about the suspect more than a year before the Apalachee High School shooting. The FBI notified Jackson County, and two Jackson County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to interview the then-13-year-old boy and his father.
Body camera footage of that interview show The father repeatedly told police that he and his son understand the magnitude of the threat of a school shooting, and he said how “pissed” he would be to find out his son had made the threat.
However, when the son came forward to speak with officers, he denied making the threats and claimed he had not recently been on Discord, the social media platform where the threats were allegedly made.
Officers asked the boy if he had ever received threats from anyone on Discord, to which he replied, “I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that.”
The officers continued to speak with the boy, comparing his answers and explanations with those given by his father minutes earlier.
The officers learned that the boy had been “bullied” at his previous school and told him there was someone he could talk to if he needed to, specifically naming a “school resource counselor.”
The officers then encouraged him to “keep his mind on the outside and set goals for himself.”
As the officers left, one officer told the boy to tell his father if he heard anyone being threatened at school, and the other officer said he took him at his word.
The boy, who was 13 at the time of the interview, is suspected of shooting and killing four people at Apalachee High School on Sept. 4, 2024.
On September 5, 2024, his father was arrested for “knowingly allowing his son to possess a weapon.”
CBS News Reported The father was charged with “four counts of negligent homicide, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Constitutional Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the author and curator of Breitbart News' weekly Constitutional Amendment newsletter, Down Range with AWR Hawkins, which focuses on all things Constitutional Amendment. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a pro staff member for Pulsar Night Vision, and the Global Marketing Director for Lone Star Hunts. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and earned his PhD in Military History. Follow him on Instagram. FollowIf you'd like to subscribe to Down Range, please sign up at breitbart.com/downrange. To get in touch directly, please email awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
