Hiram High Student Arrested For Shooting Up School Threat: Police

HIRAM, GA — A 17-year-old Hiram High School student has been arrested and charged with felony terroristic threats for saying she was going to "shoot up the school" while on her bus ride home Feb. 28, according to the Paulding County Sheriff's Office.

Layla Deshaun Njie was caught on a school bus video Feb. 28 saying several she times she would, "shoot up the school and using some expletives and other inappropriate language, according to police.

The threats were discovered March 2, when deputies were investigating an incident at Hiram High School where a student was alleged to have had some threatening messages on their social media account regarding a school shooting. Deputies learned that the alleged messages were pertaining to an incident that took place in Polk County, March 1, where Polk County Schools were placed on lock down for a threat. Once it was determined that these posts were not threats against a school, they were removed from the social media platform they were posted on.

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While deputies were speaking with these students, they were alerted to Njie's comments on the bus.

"As we have been saying all week, if a student makes a threat and we can prove its validity, we will make an arrest and charge that student with the corresponding crime," reads a post on the sheriff's Facebook page. "Parents, please have a serious and candid discussion with your children about the severity of making these kinds of threats whether they are made in a joking manner or not. Making threats to harm students at a school is NOT A JOKE."

Since Njie is 17 years old, the sheriff's office clarified how juveniles are charged with criminal offenses in the State of Georgia.

"In the State of Georgia a juvenile is considered to be anyone under the age of 18," reads the Facebook post. "However, and this is something that most people do not understand; an individual can be considered to be both an adult and a juvenile at 17 years old. If a 17-year-old commits an offense that would warrant them going to an adult jail, they are charged as an adult and go to an adult jail. That also means that their mugshot or booking photograph along with their charges are subject to the Georgia Open Records Act and are open for the sheriff's office to release or anyone from the public to access this information.

"If a 17-year-old commits a "status offense" they would be subjected to the penalties and sentences of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and the Juvenile Court System," continues the post. "Some examples of status offenses are runaway, truancy, disorderly juvenile, disobedient to parents (continuously), and curfew violation."

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Photo courtesy Paulding County Sheriff's Office