Convicted Felon Charged with Threatening Judge and DA's Office Handling Apalachee High Mass Shooting Case

ATLANTA - Brandon Dontrail Scroggins, a convicted felon, faces federal charges in the Northern District of Georgia after allegedly threatening Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm and the Barrow County District Attorney's Office on the sentencing day for Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School mass shooter Colt Gray.

"Scroggins allegedly threatened violence against the prosecutors and judge who were tasked with meting out justice for individuals responsible for the horrific mass shooting that claimed four innocent lives at Apalachee High School," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Public servants deserve to work free of intimidation, and anyone who threatens to harm them will be prosecuted."

"Our justice system depends on the ability of prosecutors and judges to make their decisions based on the law, and not on fear," said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "The FBI has zero tolerance for those trying to intimidate public servants from doing their jobs."

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented to the court: On the morning of July 30, 2026, in the Superior Court of Barrow County, Judge Nicholas Primm presided over the sentencing hearing for Colin Gray, the father of the perpetrator of the September 4, 2024 Apalachee High School shooting. Gray's son, Colin Cray, killed four people and injured nine in the deadliest act of school violence in Georgia's history. Scroggins allegedly called the Barrow County District Attorney's Office and informed the receptionist that he was coming to "take out" Barrow County because of purported injustice. Shortly thereafter, Scroggins called the district attorney's office again and left a voicemail threatening to travel to Georgia and harm the office's employees and their children.

A minute later, Scroggins allegedly called Judge Primm's chambers and left a voicemail stating that "a death date just came up for Nicholas Primm." In the voicemail, Scroggins allegedly warned Judge Primm's assistant to separate herself from Judge Primm because Judge Primm and "everything he love[s]" is "dead."

On August 7, 2026, Brandon Dontrail Scroggins, 39, of Abilene, Texas, was charged in a criminal complaint with transmitting interstate communications containing threats to injure another person. Scroggins also faces federal charges in the Middle District of Alabama for allegedly threatening a federal judge, and he faces state charges in Texas related to harassing phone calls.

Scroggins is being held in the custody of the United States Marshals Service in Texas awaiting transport for further proceedings in the Middle District of Alabama and Northern District of Georgia.

Members of the public are reminded that the complaint only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government's burden to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Smith is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Operation Take Back America. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6185. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.