By Joe Johnson
Athens-Clarke County police on Thursday obtained a Juvenile Court complaint for a 13-year-old Athens middle school student who threatened on social media to commit shootings at three local public schools.
The Oct. 30 threat prompted an increased police presence at all Clarke County School District schools.
The student was a girl who claimed to be a male eighth-grader when making the threat via the Snapchat smartphone app.
In the post, the girl identified herself as a “white boy with long hair in the 8th grade” and stated that “I have a pistal (sic)” and planned to shoot up Clarke Middle School and the Aps Road and Cleveland Road elementary schools.
"So be ready to die...this isn't a joke," the message stated.
The threat was brought to the attention of police by a concerned parent on Oct. 30, police said.
The police department then contacted Clarke County School District administrators and began an investigation.
“ACCPD’s initial investigation indicated that there was not an immediate threat to the schools, police said in a Friday morning media release. “Further investigation led detectives to a 13-year-old female student who was responsible for the threat.”
Police said that on Thursday they applied for and received a complaint that charges the student with three counts of making a terroristic threat.
A juvenile complaint is the equivalent of arrest warrant for an adult.
“Working as partners, the Clarke County School District and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department take the security of school children and employees seriously, police stated in the media release. “We encourage families to discuss the dangers of weapons and the use of threatening language in school and on social media. Please remind your children to report any weapons or threats to an adult immediately.”