2 school districts report threats Thursday, Friday
Threats at two different public school districts in Garland County on Thursday and Friday resulted in one arrest and ongoing investigations, according to the Garland County Sheriff’s Department and Hot Springs police.
A 16-year-old Fountain Lake student was arrested Thursday after the sheriff’s department’s Criminal Investigations Division was notified of a possible threat of violence.
According to a news release by the sheriff’s department, the school resource officer, Deputy Justin Butcher, was told by school officials “that they had become aware of literature that contained the manner of death of other individuals.”
“Inv. Huckaba interviewed the juvenile at the Garland County Sheriff’s Office with his parents present,” the sheriff’s department said in the release. “During the interview the suspect admitted to having written the literature, and was placed in custody for 5-13301 Terroristic Threatening a Class A Misdemeanor. The suspect
was then transported to the Garland County Juvenile Detention Center.”
The Sentinel-Record follows The Associated Press privacy policies and does not publish the names of juvenile offenders unless they are charged as adults.
On Thursday and Friday, two alerts were sent to patrons of the Lakeside School District regarding threats made on campus.
On Thursday, two students were removed from Lakeside Middle School after making a threat against the school.
The Hot Springs Police Department said Friday the incident is currently under investigation.
“Lakeside School District has recently had two students to make a threat against the Middle School,” stated the alert, which was distributed through the district’s smartphone app under “Lakeside Updates.” “Those students have been removed. The HSPD has been involved and is working in conjunction with the school to keep our students safe. Our first priority is always our students’ safety.”
On Friday, Superintendent Shawn Cook stated in an alert that a ninth-grade student allegedly announced to a class that there was a gun in his bag.
“The student was immediately removed from class & searched. Law enforcement was contacted. No weapon was found. The student said he was joking,” the alert stated.
“Parents, please tell your student that if they do this, they will be removed from Lakeside & turned over to authorities.”
The incidents follow threats at two other Garland County schools in recent weeks.
On Feb. 19, a 16-year-old Mountain Pine student was arrested and charged with felony terroristic threatening for allegedly creating a “death list” of other students and faculty members. The juvenile was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.
On Tuesday, a torn-up note card with a “hit list” of students’ names was found at Jessieville School District. As of Wednesday, school officials said the Garland County Sheriff’s Department was taking over the investigation process.
Sheriff Mike McCormick previously said in response to the threat at Mountain Pine that the department is “well aware of the recent incidents of school violence and take all possible threats very seriously.”