Atlanta Schools Threat: Police Investigating, Security Upped

ATLANTA, GA — Law enforcement agencies including the FBI are investigating a threat made on social media aimed at four Atlanta high schools.

On Monday, an Atlanta Public Schools spokesman said the threat was made Friday on Instagram, mentioning Maynard Jackson High School, South Atlanta High School, Carver High School and Washington High School.

The Atlanta Public Schools Police Department is investigating the threat, along with the Atlanta Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, said schools spokesman Ian Smith.

"At Atlanta Public Schools, the safety and security of all our students and staff is our top priority and we take any threat against our schools very seriously," Smith said in a written statement.

Schools across the nation have been on high alert since 17 people, many of them students, were killed and 16 more injured in a Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Threats to schools, many of them turning out to be unsubstantiated, have skyrocketed.

According to The Educator's School Safety Network, there have been 532 school-based threats or violent incidents in the U.S. since the Parkland shooting — an average of 88.7 per school day. In all, 490 schools in 49 states have been threatened or had actual violence happen, according to the group.

Smith said the Atlanta school system has put safety and security measures in place a schools and "all safety and security protocols will be strictly enforced by our staff in accordance with district policy." He also warned that any threat to schools, even ones that are supposedly jokes, will be taken seriously.

"School safety is everyone’s business," Smith said. "The posting or reposting of threats of violence against schools on social media is a criminal offense and APS will prosecute these incidents to the full extent of the law. "

In a letter to the school community, APS Superintendent Meria Joel Carstarphen said students and parents may notice a stepped-up security presence at schools.

"All safety and security protocols will be strictly enforced by our staff in accordance with district policy, and students will be reminded of the seriousness and criminal consequences of posting or reposting threats of violence on social media," she wrote.

Anyone with information about a threat made against local schools is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477. The tips may be made anonymously.

Photo via Shutterstock