JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Atlantic Coast High School alerted parents of a lockdown Friday morning in response to a social media threat.
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According to the principal, Dr. Michael George, the school went into lockdown a little before the bell when administration was made aware of a social media post from a student threatening to shoot up the school. Parents were notified via email just after when second period was supposed to start.
Police quickly identified the student allegedly responsible for the threat and apprehended the student within 3 hours of becoming aware of the post.
After an investigation, it was determined that the threat was unfounded and the school announced it would resume normal hours. The student responsible has been arrested by police and charges are pending.
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Action News Jax spoke with Pat Hammond who was dropping off her grandson after the lockdown was lifted.
“I am very thankful he was apprehended, but it’s also very scary to think about kids coming to school every day,” Hammond said.
Iliass Ouassi is a junior and was getting picked up from school. He said he was shocked when learning about the threat.
“I’ve been here three years, and it hasn’t happened to me,” Ouassi said. “You see it on the news all the time and think that could never happen to me – and then it happened to me.”
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Additional police, deans, security and administrators are on campus.
Principal George told Action News Jax that although the threat ended up being unfounded, the school takes threats like this very seriously. He asks parents to coach their children on appropriate behavior on social media because they do have serious consequences, and the school will take legal action in response to all threats.
Duval County Public Schools also encourages students, parents and community members to report threatening activity to law enforcement. The district says law enforcement can be easily notified on the Fortify Florida app, which all parents and students are encouraged to download.
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