Former Holy Innocents' Coach Charged Following Lockdown: Police

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- A former Holy Innocents' Episcopal School faculty member has been charged in connection to actions that resulted in the school being placed on lockdown on Wednesday.

Sandy Springs resident Terry Kelly has been charged with reckless conduct and obstruction, Sandy Springs police spokesperson Capt. Mike Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom said Kelly was formerly employed as a dean and basketball coach at the Sandy Springs institution.

Wednesday's events unfolded early in the morning when the school held a meeting with the former coach and confronted him about questionable communication between him and former students. Lindstrom stated the parents of those former students alerted Holy Innocents' officials about those emails and text messages.

A Holy Innocents' spokesperson said the school placed Kelly on a leave of absence, and he left the facility.

Due to the nature of those communications, the school brought on a private investigator to follow the dean after he was placed on leave.

The private investigator followed Kelly to a Bass Pro Shops store where he was allegedly seen purchasing a weapon as well as ammunition, Lindstrom said.

At that point, the investigator continued to trail the former employee, who appeared to be making his way back to the school, Lindstrom said. As a result, the investigator called the school to inform them of the developments.

Holy Innocents' phoned Sandy Springs police around 9:30 a.m. to inform the agency it was placing the Mt. Vernon Highway facility on lockdown due to the information they received, Lindstrom stated.

That private investigator also called 911 and provided a play-by-play of Kelly's movements, and Sandy Springs police were able to intercept the former coach during a traffic stop on Abernathy Road.

Officers, who noted Kelly was observed loading the weapon with ammunition during the traffic stop, took the former coach into custody without incident.

Lindstrom said Kelly is in the process of being transported to the Fulton County Jail.

"Those charges were not based on anything that was related to the emails,” Lindstrom said, referring to the communications Holy Innocents' unearthed between the former students and Kelly.

Holy Innocents' notes the lockdown was lifted around 10:50 a.m. However, the school has decided to cancel classes for the rest of the day. The school also reiterated that the former employee was never on campus at the time of the lockdown.

"Holy Innocents’ took every precaution, and the threat was contained," the school added.

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