February 23, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department will have more officers at schools Friday to help ease worries after rumors surfaced on social media Thursday that a student was planning to carry out a threat at the high school.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said the rumors proved to be unfounded.
In a prepared statement, Sheriff Ray explained how the story unfolded.
“Around 6 pm on February 22, 2018 the School Resource Officer at the High School contacted me and advised me he had a concerned parent call him. The parent said their child had overheard a student make a threat to the DeKalb County High School.
I immediately contacted a Detective from my department to investigate the complaint.
Through an investigation, the Detective and School Resource Officer found out a 17 year old DeKalb County High School student made a comment that was interpreted as a threat to the school. Both of them interviewed the student and the student said he did not make the comment. The Detective and School Resource Officer also talked to a teacher who was present at the time the comment was made. The teacher confirmed the student never said anything about harming the school.
The Sheriff’s Department has been working with the Director of Schools, Patrick Cripps, the Principal of DeKalb County High School, Randy Jennings, and school support staff along with the Assistant District Attorney General Stephanie Johnson since the investigation started.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps is reporting “Last evening we received information concerning a potential threat to DeKalb County High School. Law enforcement was contacted and an investigation has been initiated.
We would like to remind all families of DeKalb County that the safety of our students is our utmost concern and we will continue to be proactive in ensuring all students remain safe.”
Sheriff Ray said “After our investigation started, there were multiple posts going around on social media that were incorrect and causing a panic. As a result, I will have extra Deputies in and out of the schools tomorrow (Friday) and a couple of deputies placed in certain schools along with the School Resource Officers as a safeguard for our students and school faculty.”