gun in backpack

South Carolina Student Arrested After Fabricating School Threat

A high school student fabricated a story about a classmate having a gun and threatening to shoot up the school, police said.

  • By Sherelle Black
  • November 06, 2019

A 16-year-old student has been charged with filing a false report after she told authorities on Monday that a classmate had a gun and planned to shoot the South Carolina high school up.

After receiving the threat, the Sumter Police Department placed the school on lockdown while they investigated the threat, delaying classes by an hour. When the officers determined there was not a threat, the student said she made up the threat.

“We take all threats to schools very seriously," Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said to WCSC. “Appropriate actions must be taken anytime a false claim like this is made.”

The girl was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Colombia.

School officials said in a statement, “This morning, law enforcement was at Sumter High School investigating an alleged threat that was reported to the school. While the transition of classes was delayed, the school day is now proceeding as normal. All students are safe, and no incident has occurred. Our first and most important priority is the safety of our students and staff, and our pledge to our parents is that we will continue to work with law enforcement in the investigation. There was no credibility to the threat.”

About the Author

Sherelle Black is a Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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