BOMB THREAT GRIFFIN-SPALDING SCHOOLS LAST FRIDAY

A joint press release from the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office and the Griffin-Spalding County School System regarding last week’s bomb threat at Rehoboth Road Middle School: On Friday August 9, 2019, a bomb threat was received via an electronic device by staff at Rehoboth Road Middle School. The school was placed on a level 2 lockdown and administrators notified the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office. The school was searched by RRMS staff and SCSO deputies. The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) Instructional Technology Department immediately began tracking the source of the threat and pinpointed that it came from within the school system. Based on the information provided by IT staff, investigators responded to A.Z. Kelsey Alternative school where a juvenile was taken into custody less than 2 hours of posting the threat. According to Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix, “The suspect taken into custody was the same individual that was taken into custody for a series of threats called in to schools across the county last school year. Due to his age, the court system was limited in what they could do to him as punishment. By order of the court, he was restricted from using electronic devices of any kind and could not attend any school in the system other than the alternative school until given permission by the court. It appears that in this case he used a school system device to log in and send the threat, then immediately logged back out.” “After he was taken into custody, he was carried in front of Juvenile Judge Ben Miller who ordered that he be detained until a hearing for him could be set up. He has been in a juvenile justice facility since Friday afternoon awaiting his hearing” added Dix. GSCS Superintendent Jim Smith added, “For me, the real story is the rapid and effective response of the Rehoboth Road Middle School staff, Griffin-Spalding County Schools’ IT Department, and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in unraveling the threat so quickly. The Griffin-Spalding County School System will continue to partner with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in doing all we can to keep our schools a safe environment for students, parents, and staff.” Superintendent Smith added “For the safety of everyone, we are asking all families to please take this opportunity to talk to their child about the danger and consequences of making threats, as well as using electronic devices inappropriately that could cause disrupt the learning environment.