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X posts
stated on September 4, 2024 in an X post:
“BREAKING: Apalachee High School shooter has been identified as non-binary trans girl Samantha Hyde.”
- Guns
- X posts
By Loreben TuqueroSeptember 5, 2024
If Your Time is short
The name "Samantha Hyde" is a variation of Sam Hyde, a name we have seen social media users resurface as a meme when shootings occur.
Authorities identified the suspect in the fatal Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School as 14-year-old Colt Gray.
See the sources for this fact-check
Hours after a teenager shot and killed four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, an X user claimed the suspect had been identified.
"BREAKING: Apalachee High School shooter has been identified as non-binary trans girl Samantha Hyde," the Sept. 4 post said.
(Screenshot from X)
If this name seems familiar, it’s because for almost a decade, people have been falsely pinning tragedies on a person by this or a similar name: that of comedian Sam Hyde.
Authorities identified the suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting as 14-year-old Colt Gray, a student at the Winder, Georgia, school. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Gray, who has been charged with four counts of felony murder, will be tried as an adult. The agency identified the four victims, two students and two teachers, as Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14; Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Christina Irimie, 53.
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Fred Thompson
stated on August 21, 2007 in article on his campaign Web site
We live in "a time of historically low violent crime rates and historically high gun ownership rates nationally."
The bureau has not said Gray is nonbinary or transgender, and we haven’t seen any comments from friends or relatives saying that he is. The FBI said that, in 2023, its National Threat Operations Center received anonymous tips about an online message threatening a school shooting. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia investigated and identified Gray as the subject of the tips. Authorities interviewed Gray, who denied making such threats.
That Jackson County sheriff’s office report, which identified Gray as male, said nothing about Gray being nonbinary or transgender.
PolitiFact has debunked these "Sam Hyde" claims in multiple instances, such as a 2020 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, and the 2023 U.S. Air Force’s shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon. "Samantha Hyde" was also falsely credited with carrying out a 2023 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
We rate the claim that the Apalachee High School shooter was identified as "Samantha Hyde" Pants on Fire!
PolitiFact Contributing Writer Ciara O’Rourke contributed to this report.
Read About Our Process
The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter
Our Sources
X post (archived), Sept. 4, 2024
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office incident report, May 22, 2023
Georgia Bureau of Investigation YouTube video, Apalachee School Shooting Briefing, Sept. 4, 2024
Georgia Bureau of Investigation YouTube video, Apalachee High School Shooting Briefing #2, Sept. 4, 2024
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Facebook post, Sept. 5, 2024
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Facebook post, Sept. 4, 2024
The Associated Press, A 14-year-old student fatally shot 4 people in a rampage at a Georgia high school, officials say, Sept. 5, 2024
The New York Times, What We Know About the Apalachee High School Shooting Victims, Sept. 4, 2024
USA Today, How Georgia's Apalachee High School shooting unfolded: Complete timeline of events, Sept. 4, 2024
USA Today, Colt Gray, 14, identified as suspect in Apalachee High School shooting: What we know, Sept. 5, 2024
CNN, September 4 Georgia school shooting news, Sept. 5, 2024
ABC News, Officials identify victims in Georgia high school shooting, say AR platform-style weapon used, Sept. 4, 2024
CBS News, 4 dead, 9 hospitalized after shooting at high school in Georgia; 14-year-old suspect in custody, Sept. 5, 2024
CNN, What we know about the Apalachee High shooting in Georgia – the deadliest school shooting this year, Sept. 5, 2024
PolitiFact, Samuyil Hyde is an internet meme, not the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ pilot, March 1, 2022
PolitiFact, Running internet prank ties US comedian to Beirut blast, Aug. 5, 2020
PolitiFact, Another false ‘Sam Hyde’ meme circulates after Nashville, Tennessee, shooting, March 28, 2023
PolitiFact, The US government, not a vigilante, shot down a Chinese balloon, Feb. 6, 2023
FBI, FBI Atlanta Statement on Incident at Apalachee High School, Sept. 4, 2024
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
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