Georgia Highlands evacuates Cartersville and Rome campuses
An unidentified but credible threat was the cause of campus shutdowns in Cartersville and Floyd County Thursday morning, according to Floyd County Police.
Georgia Highlands College acknowledged there was a threat and that it would close the three campuses in order to allow local law enforcement to sweep the buildings. Georgia Highlands later released a statement saying the college was cleared to resume activities on Friday.
According to a statement released by the Floyd County Police Department:
A threat had been identified by a student of Georgia Highlands College but it landed outside the jurisdiction of the FCPD. Evidence from the overall case was turned over to the district attorney offices in Floyd and Bartow Counties for further review.
The Cedartown Highway campus and Heritage Hall campus of Georgia Highlands in Rome was locked and secured by police today following a report to Floyd 911 at 11:04 a.m. Officers observed no problem but the schools were closed as a precautionary measure.
The Floyd County Police Department became involved after an anonymous tip was made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation referencing a threat of gun violence. That information was relayed to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which in turn contacted Floyd County authorities.
Because there has been no arrest, police will not be identifying the 21-year old student of the Bartow campus.
Patrol officers responded to Georgia Highlands College because of the unknown variables at the time of the anonymous complaint. Police searched both Rome locations for the suspect and his vehicle but found neither. Officers remained on scene until administrators approved for the campus to dismiss class and lock down the buildings.