Two metro Atlanta schools were the targets of overnight threats, adding to the growing list of institutions in North Georgia that have received threats this week.
Someone claimed on Snapchat they would make Covenant Christian Academy near Loganville “Number 19,” Gwinnett County police told Channel 2 Action News.
The number is a reference to a statistic claiming there had been 18 school shootings this year. A nonprofit gun control group tweeted that number the day of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. However, the Washington Post found the statistic was misleading.
Police were investigating.
Patrols in the area were increased as a precaution, police said. The private school doesn’t have its own police resource officers.
In Forsyth County, authorities arrested a 16-year-old boy who allegedly threatened to shoot up West Forsyth High School.
A concerned parent saw a social media post from the student that showed a firearm and a “potential threat of violence,” sheriff’s Cpl. Doug Rainwater said. The parent contacted the sheriff’s office Wednesday night.
“The sheriff’s office, in collaboration with the Forsyth County School System, immediately began an investigation into the report,” Rainwater said. “After numerous interviews with the students and parents, lasting well into the morning hours, the suspect was able to be identified and located.”
The student was taken into custody and charged with one count of terroristic threats and acts. He has been turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice, authorities said.
In other incidents:
· At Dunwoody High, a student had knives in his car on school grounds, Principal Priscilla Cole said in an email to parents. School officials found the knives. "No one was threatened," she said.
· In Hall County, Superintendent Will Schofield issued a statement about a reported threat at Flowery Branch High School. "The rumor was started through a social media texts chain," he said, "but events reported in the text have no basis of fact."
· A 16-year-old student was taken into custody and admitted to detectives he made threats against Gordon Central High School in Calhoun, the sheriff said.
· In Chattooga County, a 16-year-old was charged with disruption of public schools after a threat was found written on a bathroom wall at Chattooga High School, officials said.
At least six schools or districts reported threats of some kind Wednesday. It was the second threat for one of the schools.
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