Crime & Courts

Police beef up patrol at high school in Columbia after it was targeted in threat

More police officers are patrolling a high school in Columbia Tuesday after it was targeted in an online threat, police said.

A social media post threatened gun violence at C.A. Johnson High, the Columbia Police Department said.

“The threat is not believed to be credible,” Richland 1 school district spokeswoman Karen York told The State.

“A shooting has NOT occurred,” police said on Twitter.

C.A. Johnson High School in Columbia.
C.A. Johnson High School in Columbia. Street View image from January 2022. © 2022 Google

In response to the threat, police said additional officers were sent to the school located in the area between Harden Street and Two Notch Road.

The officers are on patrol inside and outside of the Richland 1 school in an effort to protect students, teachers and other staff, police said.

Along with the increased law enforcement presence, the school was also placed on modified lockdown as a precaution, York said.

School administrators learned about the threat Tuesday morning and told police, according to York.

In addition to increasing the number of officers on the school’s campus, police said they are working to track down the source of the threat.

On Monday, there was a false report of a shooting at Lower Richland High, another Richland 1 school. There is no information connecting the incidents.

These incidents come after hoax calls about shootings were made at multiple schools across South Carolina last week.

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Noah Feit
The State
Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription
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