Montevallo schools deal with circulating false threat on social media
Published 4:37 pm Tuesday, September 17, 2024
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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor
MONTEVALLO – Montevallo High School and Middle School are the latest schools in the county to deal with a false threat in recent weeks following the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia.
According to the Montevallo Police Department, on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 17, administrators at Montevallo High School and Montevallo Middle School were alerted to an image circulating on social media that referenced a potential threat to a “MHS” school.
The MPD believe that the threat in question is one of many social media posts being shared around the country. Montevallo police are actively collaborating with the Alabama Fusion Center and confirmed that the image is also circulating in northwest Florida.
“Montevallo PD is continuing to investigate; however, at this time, there is no credibility to this threat,” read an official statement from the Montevallo Police Department.
According to police, the school has taken appropriate measures to ensure heightened security and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
“The safety of our students and staff is and will continue to be our top priority at Montevallo High School,” read a release by the MPD.
Montevallo High School is the latest school to be affected by false threats in the past several weeks. Helena was the first to deal with it recently as the Helena Police Department spent more than 20 hours over a two-day span investigating threats which were ultimately fabricated by a student.
On Friday, Sept. 13, Calera and Alabaster had to deal with threats that put Calera High School on lockdown and led to an increased police presence at Alabaster City Schools.
At Calera, a screenshot was circulating on Snapchat that showed an anonymous text saying Calera High School would be shot up at 12. Calera Police and SROs quickly intervened after learning of the social media threat. Detectives shared that they believe the threat was a screenshot from a 2018 threat that someone reposted. In addition to the online threat, a student also reported hearing a rumor of a bomb threat which was investigated and deemed to not be credible.
Alabaster City Schools faced a similar situation on Sept. 13 when an anonymous threat was spread around regarding schools in the city. According to the Alabaster Police Department, the threat was very broad and contained limited information. The APD suggested it was similar to a threat hoax that has been circulating across the southeast.
Any further information regarding school threats will be shared at Shelbycountyreporter.com.