A father and son employed at a Rockdale County middle school have been arrested after allegedly having weapons and making threats, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
Deputies observed “suspicious behavior” Wednesday during a safety check at Edwards Middle School. The Conyers-area school was immediately placed on lockdown, the sheriff’s office said.
Paul Schwartz, 63, an employee at the school, was in possession of two razor blade knives, according to investigators. He was charged with two counts of bringing a weapon onto school grounds. Paul Schwartz Jr., 21, a contracted staff member, was charged with making terroristic threats, the sheriff’s office said. The two are father and son, a sheriff’s office spokesperson confirmed.
The arrests came one week after a shooting at Apalachee High School left four dead, including two teachers and two students. There have been at least three dozen arrests in Georgia related to school threats since the Apalachee shooting. The vast majority are students as young as 11 years old who were charged with making terroristic threats.
Law enforcement agencies believe the majority of those threats have been unsubstantiated, with students claiming they thought it was funny, according to police. Investigators throughout Georgia have warned that threatening school safety is never a joke, and the consequences can include jail time, a criminal record and financial costs.
Schwartz was a math teacher, but he is no longer an employee of Rockdale County Public Schools, a district spokesperson said. He worked as a substitute teacher from January 2015 through November and began teaching math at Edwards Middle in December, the district said.
Schwartz Jr. is no longer affiliated with the district, a spokesperson said.
“The safety, security and well-being of our students, families and staff continues as our top priority,” the district said in a statement. “We will always take threats of any kind seriously and take all necessary precautions. We continue to encourage our students, families and staff to See or Hear Something, Say Something. We are thankful for our local law enforcement partners, our school resource officer and our school safety division who responded quickly and stayed to conduct a thorough investigation.”
Both Schwartz and Schwartz Jr. were being held late Thursday at the Rockdale County jail.
SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING
Anyone who hears or sees a threat against a school should immediately report it to local police or school leaders.
The GBI also has a “See Something, Send Something” mobile app where tips are received and processed by the agency around the clock.
Tips can be submitted by mobile devices by downloading the See Send App for iPhone and Android devices from the Google Play or the Apple App Store.
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