Threat post locks down campus days after school shooting

The Watson Chapel School District went into lockdown just before noon Wednesday in response to a social media post that alleged “someone was going to hurt somebody,” Superintendent Jerry Guess said.

Guess said he did not see the post when asked about the nature of it. The campuses went into lockdown nine days after a shooting on the Watson Chapel Junior High School campus claimed the life of Daylon Burnett, a 15-year-old freshman.

“The Watson Chapel School District is on lockdown at the moment,” a post at 11:37 a.m. Wednesday read on the district’s Facebook page. “There is no imminent threat at this time. The Jr. high has received a tip and the police are following up on the tip. Please know that your children are safe and we are taking all precautionary measures to ensure the safety of your child.”

Guess said junior high school Principal Uyolanda Wilson was concerned that the threat could mean use of a weapon, hence the lockdown, which the district said on Facebook was lifted at 12:56 p.m.

Pine Bluff Police said a search revealed no weapon and no arrests were made.

“The tip at the Jr High was followed up on and has proven to be false,” that post read. “School will dismiss at normal times.”

Guess said the district has used standalone and handheld metal detectors since the March 1 shooting. Burnett’s classmate, Thomas Quarles, 15, is charged with capital murder in the case and is being held without bail at the Jack Jones Juvenile Detention Center.

A response to the first Facebook posting from the district alleged that three guns were found in the cafeteria. That response was deleted, angering other Facebook users.

“We’re just being real careful,” Guess said. “If we get any rumor that there might be anything amiss, we’re going to act in the best interest of safety. So, what we did was, we declared a lockdown — not a

lockdown because there is a gun on campus, but a lockdown that was instituted just to be safe and search. We’ve got the police chief and his officers, the sheriff and his deputies, so we’re going to be cautious. We’re going to act on the side of being careful. That’s what we’re doing. We have not found anything on campus that is a danger, but we’re going to be careful.”

Pine Bluff Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant told Watson Chapel School Board members Monday that he was committed to providing more officers for district campuses as needed, provided he has enough staffing for regular patrols.

“We want students to know we’re going to use them [officers] as we see fit,” Guess said.