Decatur County schools enter lockdown following state-wide shooting threats
Published 4:48 pm Monday, September 9, 2024
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All schools in Decatur County, including Grace Christian Academy and Spring Creek Charter Academy, temporarily went into lockdown Monday morning, following posts on social media indirectly threatening shootings at multiple schools in Georgia. These posts come just days after the September 4 shooting at Apalachee High School.
According to Bainbridge Public Safety, the threats that triggered Monday’s lockdowns were not made by local students, but were directed toward a broad category of schools. There have been multiple instances of shooting threats across the state in the days since Apalachee High, both in North and South Georgia, with several teenagers having been arrested on counts of terroristic threats. According to WALB, a 17-year old was arrested for terroristic threats against Crisp County High School, and an 11-year-old student at Valdosta Middle School was arrested for the same.
In an official statement, the Decatur County Board of Education said, “Out of an abundance of caution, the Decatur County Schools have implemented a Level I lockdown within our school system in response to a social media threat that is impacting a wide area of school systems in our region. We received this information after students arrived for school this morning.” Decatur County Schools returned to normal operations after several hours.
Local law enforcement visited each school in the county today, including GCA and SCCA, and will remain on standby through tomorrow.