Student arrested after phoning in threat to Richland County school, sheriff says
A 16-year-old was locked up for making a prank call about a shooting at a Columbia-area high school, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
The sheriff’s department said it received a report at about 2:45 p.m. Monday of a shooting at Lower Richland High School. It was determined to be a false call after school resource officers at the scene evaluated the threat, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.
Deputies determined the call came from the Richland 1 high school’s campus in Hopkins, and a 16-year-old student was charged with unlawful use of 911, aggravated breach of peace and unlawful communication, according to the release.
The teen’s name was not made public because of their age.
“I hope this sends a message to the other kids out there who think this is a prank,” Sheriff Leon Lott said in the release. “Calls like this are taken seriously and this student wasted resources and instilled fear into others at Lower Richland all for a joke. These calls will be taken seriously and I wanted students to know that they will be locked up, not sent home with their parents.”
The student was booked into the juvenile wing of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Information about a specific punishment from the school and Richland 1 was not available.
“Any threats or potential threats to the safety of our schools, students and staff are taken seriously, and anyone who chooses to make such threats will face consequences accordingly,” Richland 1 Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said in the release. “We are thankful that the call was a hoax and not a credible threat. We appreciate the fast response and investigation by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department that led to the identification of the person responsible for making the call.”
The incident comes after similar hoax calls about shootings were made at multiple schools across South Carolina.
On Tuesday, another Richland 1 school was targeted in a threat.
A social media post threatened gun violence at C.A. Johnson High, the Columbia Police Department said. While the threat is not believed to be credible, the school was placed on modified lockdown and more officers were sent to patrol the inside and outside of the building to protect students, teachers and other staff.
The sheriff’s department said it’s aware of threats circulating on social media mentioning Columbia and Richland County schools, but hasn’t found any credible information to support them to this point.
“All threats are taken seriously and investigated as we receive them,” the sheriff’s department said.
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This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 1:41 PM.
