Reported ‘threat’ near Perry High School prompts 100 officers to respond

Perry High School was on lockdown while around 100 local and state officers searched for a possible armed person nearby Friday afternoon, according to the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

But the report of a possible armed subject might’ve been a swatting call, Sheriff Matt Moulton told The Telegraph around 5 p.m.

“We’ve not been able to make contact with anybody that resembles what the threat was about,” Moulton said. “So it’s possible that it was a hoax called into the school.”

It is illegal to impart or convey false information regarding threats in the United States.

“It is a crime,” Moulton said. “We are now trying to identify the source of the call.”

The sheriff’s office was notified of a “subject possibly armed with a gun in the area of the school” around 2:40 p.m., Moulton told The Telegraph.

Someone initially called the school to report the incident, according to Moulton.

The school was still on lockdown by 4 p.m. All students were safe, he said.

He initially called the subject “a threat.”

Moulton said that around 100 officers from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Perry Police Department and Warner Robins Police Department were at the scene by 4 p.m.

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office was leading the investigation, according to Perry Police Chief Alan Everidge.

School responds

School dismissal was affected by the ongoing incident, according to the Houston County School District.

Perry High School was on Code Yellow, but student car riders were being released around 4 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the school.

Jennifer Jones, open records officer for the Houston County School District, said Art Billings, principal of Perry High School, notified parents of the Code Yellow via email.

“Let me assure you that all students are safe in their classes,” Billings said. “There is no threat inside the school.”

Jones confirmed a shooting didn’t occur on campus, and said misinformation was spread online.

All students were safely released from school later Friday afternoon, Jones said.

This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM.