Tuesday afternoon’s soft lockdown at Banks County Primary and Banks County Elementary schools was sparked by a potential threat against a person within the school.
“It appears an unknown person sent a threat involving a student through a text message,” said Banks County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Shawn Wilson. “A family member of the student notified the school about the text. The school took immediate steps to secure our children.”
A soft lockdown was implemented, restricting incoming or outgoing movement at the affected schools.
The sheriff’s office requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation due to the complexity of the situation.
“Due to this taking place against a student and the text coming from out of state, the case is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Banks County Sheriff’s Office,” Wilson said.
Wilson said investigators have no reason at this time to believe the threat was genuine, or that it was domestic in nature.
Additionally, Wilson said sheriff’s officials appreciate the patience of parents, adding he and other leaders understand parental frustrations that arise from limited initial information.
“When incidents like this happen, we, nor the school, get the story all at once,” Wilson said. “Please know that public safety units must respond to the call, secure the premises, investigate, and deal with the situation at hand, all of which takes time. As many of us are parents and have our children in the Banks County School System, we understand that we want answers wholly and quickly when it involves our children. Unfortunately, this is not always the case because we do not have the answers either, but know we are working expeditiously to get them for you. Securing our children is the priority and will continue to be.”
Wilson said the leadership of both the school system and the sheriff’s office are confident in safety measures in place at the county’s schools, both in planning and in execution.
In 2019, officials from the two organizations partnered to bring a unique Heightened Enforcement Response Officer (HERO) Unit to the county’s schools. That unit consists of specially trained and experienced deputies who receive specialized training tailored to their positions.
“Banks County School System, Banks County Fire/EMS, E-9-1-1/EMA, and the sheriff’s office continuously train for events that may affect our children,” Wilson said. “We will always attempt to get information to parents promptly but only release factual details.”
