An image shows the social media profile of the accused suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting.
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An X account purporting to belong to the Apalachee High School shooting suspect was ‘made up’
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This image shows an X account posing as the Apalachee High School shooting suspect. The account has since been deleted, but it wasn’t the suspect’s.
Two students and two teachers died Sept. 4 in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the suspect in the shooting as 14-year-old Colt Gray, who was arrested and charged with murder.
Some social media posts have tried to cast Gray as a supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.
What appears to be a screenshot of an X profile shows a person wearing what looks like a Harris hat and a shirt that says "trans" with a bio that says: "Kamala 2024 end all MAGAts" and a gun emoji. The bio also says "she/her/they trans pride" and gives "Winder, GA" as a location. The name on the profile is "Colt Gray" and the handle is @is_never_wrong_.
A Sept. 4 Instagram post sharing the image was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation didn’t immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the post. Neither did the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, which oversees the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center, where Gray was booked,The New York Times reported Sept. 5.
The X account for @is_never_wrong_ has been deleted.
But when the page was archived online in the evening of Sept. 4, it showed a different user photo and a different bio, this one supporting former President Donald Trump.
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"14 GA THEY/THEM, SAVE THE ANIMALS, MAGA, ANTIFASH, TRUMP 24, TRANS PRIDE, LOVE SCIENCE NOT GOD, ABORTION IS MURDER," the bio said.
Why the contradictory political stances? Because the account isn’t real.
A Sept. 5 Google search showed that before the shooting even happened, the profile said: "to any lawyers, journos, cops & the CIA: this content is all fake and made up." And the user’s name wasn’t "Colt Gray;" it was "S. Poster."
We rate claims the image in this post shows the shooting suspect’s X profile False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, Sept. 4, 2024
X account, visited Sept. 5, 2024
Google search, Sept. 5, 2024
FBI Atlanta, FBI Atlanta Statement on Incident at Apalachee High School, Sept. 4, 2024
The New York Times, Live Updates: Hunt for Motive Reveals Suspect’s Interest in Mass Shootings, visited Sept. 5, 2024
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, GBI Investigates School Shooting in Barrow County, Sept. 4, 2024
Channel 2 Action News, Colt Gray: What we know about 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooting suspect, Sept. 5, 2024
New York Post, Pictured: Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, 14, whose aunt says he was ‘begging for help,’ Sept. 5, 2024
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An X account purporting to belong to the Apalachee High School shooting suspect was ‘made up’
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