School officials and local law enforcement were on high alert last week following an anonymous threat of violence at Lake Middle School.
During the evening hours of May 1 school officials and the Scott County School District were made aware of a text message threatening a “massive school shooting” directed at Lake Middle School. The unidentified sender wrote, “#ATTENTION# if you or your child/children attend Lake Middle School in Scott County! Wednesday @9:30 there will be a massive school shooting!”. A second message also included threats and ethnic slurs. School officials and the Scott County School District took the threat seriously and took immediate action to ensure the safety of the students and faculty.
In a prepared statement, Dr. John-Mark Cain, Scott County School District Deputy Superintendent, said, “The Scott County School District received word of an anonymous electronic text message threat aimed at Lake Middle School. The SCSD administration received the information of the threatening message late Tuesday evening and immediately notified law enforcement. The Scott County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident.
“As a precaution, local law enforcement helped provide an extra security presence at the both Lake Middle School and Lake High School.”
Lake High School principal Lee Killen concurred. “We would like to thank Scott County Sheriff’s Department and local law enforcement for their presence, it made all staff, teachers and students feel safe” he said.
Even with extra protection at the schools, many parents opted not to send their children to school that day or picked them up early as word of the threats spread.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Department had several deputies at LMS and LHS the entire school day on May 2.
“We had police presence starting at 6 a.m.” LMS principal Nancy Butler said. Butler further reported that by midday they “were down to about 40 students on campus”.
“School officials notified parents via phone, Facebook, and Twitter to keep them informed of the situation,” Cain said in his statement. “Please be assured the SCSD administration in partnership with local law enforcement will continue to investigate the source of the threat as well as maintain vigilance to provide for student safety.
“We are taking this matter very seriously. The safety of students and staff is of the utmost importance for the Scott County School District.”
As of press time on Tuesday the incident was still under investigation.
If you have any information pertaining to the investigation contact the Scott County Sheriffs Department.
