Arrest Made In String Of Paulding School Violence Threats

DALLAS, GA — At least one person had been arrested Friday after a week in which threats of violence were made at three different Paulding County high schools.

In a letter to parents Friday afternoon, Paulding County High School Principal Craig Wilcox said an arrest was made after school officials notified the sheriff's office about a social media post saying there would be shootings at the school on May 9 and May 12.

"The responsible party has been identified and arrested, and has admitted that it was a joke," Wilcox said in the letter. "The investigation into this hoax has been closed."

Meanwhile, a similar letter went out to parents of Hiram High School students, saying that two threats written on walls at the school said there would be a shooting on Monday, May 8.

The letter said school officials and sheriff's office investigators are reviewing camera footage to try to identify the person or persons responsible.

"While we do not believe this threat is credible, there will be an increased law enforcement presence at Hiram High School on Monday," Principal Misty Cooksey said in the letter. "Operations will continue as normal. We will follow all of our normal policies related to student attendance."

Reports of the two threats come just days after a similar threat made at North Paulding High School.

There, someone wrote on a desk that there would be a shooting at the school on Friday. There was an increased law enforcement presence at the school Friday, a day that passed uneventfully.

School officials had referred to the situation at North Paulding as "a low-level, non-credible threat," although they ultimately said that any students who stayed home from school Friday would have the absence excused and would not lose the right to attend the schools prom this weekend.

School officials asked parents to remind their children that school-violence threats could land them in big trouble, even if they have no intention of actually carrying them out.

"Please remind them that there are no 'jokes' when it comes to the safety of our students and staff," Cooksey wrote in her letter. "All threats are serious, and have real and very significant consequences at the school and with law enforcement."

Photo courtesy Paulding County High School