Crawford County school deals with shooting threat in wake of Apalachee High shooting
Roberta law enforcement planned to have an increased presence at Crawford County Middle High School on Friday after investigating a school shooting rumor that circulated online.
The threat mentioned that a possible shooting would occur at the school on Friday. School administrators and local law enforcement said the threat originated out of state and wasn’t believed to be credible, according to a Facebook post.
“We can’t find anything credible about this threat, but we’re not going to write it off. We’re going to take it seriously,” Roberta Police Department Chief Ty Matthews said over the phone.
Matthews said the rumor was found on a fraudulent web address that was similar to the school district’s actual webpage.
Crawford County Schools Superintendent Anthony Aikens said he was notified of the threat from a parent, who received the information from her son in North Georgia.
“This same information has been circulated to multiple school districts across the state,” Aikens said in an email. “It has been my experience that this type of threat has happened in the past following school shootings.”
The rumor follows a nation-wide panic over campus safety after a 14-year-old Barrow County student was arrested for allegedly opening fire at the Apalachee High School, killing two teachers and two students.
Matthews said local authorities were already taking extra steps to provide more security at the school on Thursday following the school shooting.
“Parents are on edge about this, and rightfully so,” he said. “But we will be there Friday morning and all throughout the day to ease parents’ nerves and make sure the faculty, staff and students can do what they’re there to do.”
Despite the assured protection, numerous Crawford County parents online expressed anxiety about their children’s safety and contemplated keeping them at home, citing that this isn’t the first time the school has had school shooting threats.
Monroe County
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Forsyth Police Department were also taking extra measures after being made aware of “threatening comments” on social media that could be considered terroristic threats, according to a Facebook post Thursday night.
Authorities identified Chris Cooper, 26, as the suspect on Friday morning, according to a press release. He was charged with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts and served with a temporary protective order.
Authorities said the “disturbing” threats of violence were toward the Monroe County School District, prompting heavy police presence at all five schools in the area on Friday.
Cooper was being held without bond at the Monroe County Jail Friday.
“We are actively investigating this matter and taking these comments seriously. If you have any information on this matter, we ask you to please contact the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office at 478-994-7010 or the Investigations Division at 478-994-7043,” the post reads.
This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 8:26 AM.