East Coweta High School student accused of making threats on social media

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - An East Coweta High School student has been identified as a suspect in school shooting threat investigation, according to the Coweta County Sheriff's Office.

According to a press release, a Coweta County School Resource Officer was alerted by a concerned parent about the threat that was circulating on social media.

Though the threat did not mention any Coweta County school as a possible target, the Sheriff's Office was made aware. Their Investigative Unit was able to obtain identifying information from Facebook (Meta) and the student was arrested.

The student allegedly took a screenshot of the original threat and reposted it to his Instagram. The actual threat was made to a school in another jurisdiction. The Sheriff's Office says that jurisdiction was aware of the threat and had already taken action to ensure the safety of the students at their school.

Several other schools sent messages to parents on Friday morning as they found out about the threat on social media.

In a letter to parents Friday, the principal of Lithia Springs High School in Douglas County says that they became aware of a threat toward the school a student "initiated" on social media.

School administrators and the Douglas County School System Police Department investigated the message and say they determined there is no threat toward to the campus. Out an abundance of caution, the high school was put on a delayed opening and safety measures have been put in place.

A parent of a Lithia Springs student shared with FOX 5 a photo taken from their car of multiple police cars outside the school Friday morning.

A Douglas County School System officials said that the threat is identical to one that has recently been shared to several school districts in the area. The official did not give any specifics about the threat.

Floyd County School District told FOX 5 Atlanta that they are also aware of several school threats that are circulating on social media. The school district said they worked with their local and state partners to gather information regarding the threats. 

In Cobb County, the following letter was sent to parents:

"This morning, McEachern’s administration was told of a possible threat to our school. District staff, the Cobb Police Department, and the Cobb County School District Police Department, immediately launched an investigation that is ongoing.

Today, McEachern’s campus does have a larger than usual police presence and teaching and learning is continuing as it normally does.

We are also aware of a nationwide pattern of false rumors being intentionally spread by students today in districts across the country. These false rumors are impacting school operations in a number of our schools, as well as districts across the metropolitan area, and across the country. As always, we take every report of a threat, or rumor of a threat, seriously to help ensure our schools are secure and our students are safe.

Our highest priority continues to be the safety of our students and the security of our campus."