A female juvenile has been arrested in connection with social media posts in February threatening New Hope schools.
Investigators with Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office arrested a juvenile for cyberstalking, according to a LCSO press release emailed Monday. The charge is in relation to a social media post which circulated Facebook Feb. 25 and which warned students and teachers to stay home from school the next day.
The juvenile was arrested Monday morning at school, though investigators did not specify which school or release any other details. The juvenile may face other charges.
Lowndes County School District Superintendent Lynn Wright confirmed the juvenile attends a LCSD school, and the district would follow its policies when considering discipline for the student. He did not release further information on the student.
The press release said investigators have been conducting interviews and forensic analysis on multiple devices in the last month. There may be another arrest coming, authorities said.
The juvenile’s name has not been released, and the case will be handled in Lowndes County Youth Court.
Wright said he learned of the arrest Monday.
“We’re very thankful to the sheriff’s department for their hard work in hopefully bringing this to a close and we hope we will not encounter any type of situation like this in the future,” Wright said. “… Kids make mistakes and … hopefully it was not intended as a serious threat, but students, adults, everyone have to be careful about the things that they say, things that they do, things that they put on social media.”
On the day the threats alleged the attack would take place, LCSO provided extra security to the schools. Attendance at all three New Hope campuses was cut by about 50 percent.
Wright added he was grateful to New Hope’s staff as well as students and their parents who cooperated during the threat.
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