JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Atlantic Coast High School in Duval County was operating on lockdown after a threat was posted to social media, according to a statement from the principal. The school has since returned to normal operations.
School officials were made aware of a social media post from a student who was threatening to 'shoot up the school', according to the statement sent to families. The student was identified and has since been arrested by police.
The school continues to operate on a code yellow status while the investigation continues. Code yellow means students and staff are limited to essential movement only, class continues behind locked doors.
Read the full statement sent to parents below:
Good Morning Atlantic Coast families,
I apologize for interrupting your morning, but I know that you will want to be aware of this information.
This morning, we were informed of a social media post from a student threatening to shoot up our school. Police have identified the student allegedly responsible for making that threat, and we have apprehended that student.
We do have additional police, deans, security, and administrators on campus.
The situation remains under investigation, so as a continued precaution, we will operate this morning on a code yellow status. Thank you for your patience as we take the steps necessary to protect the safety of our campus, and I will keep you updated.
Respectfully,
Dr. George
Read the follow up statement sent to families after the situation was handled:
Dear Team Duval families,
This morning we became aware that a student at one of our high schools posted a threat to shoot up a school on social media. Our School Police arrested that student within three hours of becoming aware of the post.
We share this with you for two reasons:
- We will always take these situations very seriously and never dismiss a threat as a prank, a joke, or a momentary lapse in judgement. If a threat violates the law, we will seek to find and arrest the person responsible.
- If you allow your children to engage in any kind of social media, we ask that you share this with them. We take no pleasure in seeing any child arrested, but we will take every step we can to ensure all children are safe and feel safe in our schools. Please coach your children on appropriate and inappropriate behavior on social media.
We also encourage students, parents, and community members to report threatening activity to law enforcement. You can call police directly or you can do so easily through the Fortify Florida mobile app. If you haven’t done so already, please take this opportunity to add this threat reporting app to your cellphone.
Thank you for your cooperation and collaboration in keeping our schools safe for all students and staff.