Bleckley, Twiggs Co. schools face threats after Apalachee shooting

In the wake of last week’s fatal mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, schools across the nation have faced threats of violence. Bleckley and Twiggs counties are among the school districts that have dealt with threats that were safely resolved.

Possible threats determined moot

Late last week, a Bleckley County High School student brought a screenshot to the attention of school staff that had been circulating with threats to “BCHS.” The authorities, including FBI Macon, began investigating the threat. It was later determined that the screenshot was referring to Bacon County, but Sheriff Daniel Cape responded seriously regardless. 

“Do NOT try that nonsense here,” he posted on his Facebook profile. “You will be met with an aggressive and quick moving law enforcement response and prosecution.” 

Cape also posted about a separate “school threat” that had been shared online but was eventually linked to Twiggs County on Monday.

Tuesday, a student in Bleckley County was charged after threatening to harm two other students.

“Students, I also implore you to do better, be better, and not let a prank or anger cost you your freedom and ability to succeed later in life,” Cape wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

Twiggs released information Monday regarding a “possible verbal threat by a student to schools” and said the student was apprehended by an administrator and law enforcement. Campus police and the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Department responded. 

The next day, the school entered “code red,” meaning students and teachers continued instruction but were unable to leave their classrooms, according to superintendent Mack H. Bullard. During a routine search, the school district said, officers discovered shell casings inside a student’s vehicle. The student was escorted to the main office, and their car was searched.

Police found and confiscated “weaponry but no firearms” including “ammunition and hunting accessories.” The student was reprimanded according to the Student Code of Conduct and the Official Code of Georgia, the school district said.

Classes returned to normal later that day, less than an hour later, but some after school activities were canceled or postponed.

School and county response

Bleckley Sheriff Cape made it clear that his office would take any threat seriously no matter who was responsible.

“We will charge any and everyone involved, no matter age,” he told the TJP. “There’s no condition that excludes you from being charged for that. You’re going to be charged. You’re going to go to jail.”

Cape expressed similar sentiments on his Facebook page, where he received many responses from parents who were in favor of his no-nonsense approach to school safety. 

Law enforcement and school districts are often on high alert after an attack on a school anywhere in the country due to the higher frequency of threats, and that possibility increases when the shooting is closer in proximity. Local law enforcement has responded by increasing patrols in and around schools. 

“Unfortunately, there’s some individuals who will just take advantage of that sensitive time and create hoaxes,” Bullard said. “But we take all of those threats — and even hoaxes, at times — and we treat them all as though they’re serious, and we deal with every report that is brought to our attention and work to resolve it at once. Until we get to a resolution, we treat it as though it could be an actual incident of school safety.”

Partnerships between law enforcement and school districts, Cape said, are central to ensuring the safety of students in the community. 

“We have a great relationship with our school system,” he said. “Part of us being ahead of this problem is continuing that relationship.”

Bullard said he was pleased with the speed at which campus police and Twiggs Sheriff’s Office responded to the threats and worked to neutralize them.

“We want to assure our students. our staff and our families that we have extra eyes and extra hands on deck who are able to handle any safety threats that may come up,” he said. “During this time with the situation that happened last week, you just have to be prepared to deal with potential threats and potential hoaxes.”