Social media post leads to panic at Lee County

LEESBURG — Social media have been credited with many benefits since the various formats’ inception, but lately certain aspects of social media have been getting a bad rap, and for good reason: massive data leaks, congressional testimonies, possible censorship. Now, in Lee County, social media can add sudden, mass panic to their list of dubious accolades after a rumored threat to Lee County Middle School West was posted to Facebook early this week, causing fear to ripple through the small South Georgia community.

According to Lee County School System Superintendent Jason Miller and officials with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a threatening statement, rumored to have been uttered Wednesday afternoon by what some have called a “troubled student,” was posted to Facebook by students who, supposedly, overheard a threat.

By Friday, the school system was dealing with massive absences.

“The rumor posted to Facebook spread like wildfire,” LCSO Chief Deputy Lewis Harris said Friday morning. “We (at the sheriff’s office) take all threats seriously, even if comes in the form of rumors, statements or whatever it may be. We take action no matter what. We are going to check out the validity of that threat. No matter the situation, we have to investigate, determine if it was or was not a true remark, so that we will be able to properly take care of the citizens and the children.”

According to Lee authorities, calls began to inundate emergency dispatch, the sheriff’s office and the school system Thursday evening as the rumor of a potential bomb in the school began to circulate.

“We started getting flooded with phone calls from our dispatchers, from our deputies that people know, who were calling them, and we were making contact with residents who called in because their child heard something,” Harris said. “We were going and talking to everybody that was calling in.”

Friday morning, authorities had the school on lockdown.

“When I pulled in this morning, wow, there was probably 10 deputies stationed around the school,” Miller said Friday. “They did not actually search the school, I think, because, from what I understand it was not a specific bomb threat. The administration learned about it late, and then dealt with it by notifying law enforcement and families.

“They thought it was contained, but then subsequent to that was the social media post. People just need to be so careful what they post, because we do take seriously the things we see on social media. We in the school system always want to ascertain the validity of any rumor or threats.”

According to Miller, in this case the posted threat was only a rumor.

“We have had a lot of absences, I believe in excess of 30 percent,” Miller said. “But in no way do I want to make light of our parents’ concerns. They have every right to be concerned with all that has been going on in the world.”

Asked if any charges were expected to be filed, Harris said, “It is not likely that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office will pursue any charges. This was just a rumor that got out of hand.”