Woodland High School in Henry County was placed on lockdown for several hours Wednesday after some students received a photo of someone holding a gun, officials said.
No injuries were reported, but students were instructed to remain where they were as police looked into the threat, district spokesman J.D. Hardin said, adding the “hard lockdown” was implemented as a precaution.
“A student may be in possession of a weapon on campus,” Hardin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about 1:30 p.m. “The school was placed on hard lockdown so police could thoroughly investigate without movement throughout the building.”
Nearby Woodland Elementary and Woodland Middle were placed on “soft lockdown,” meaning the exterior doors were locked but students could still move freely between classes, district officials said.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the area about 11:30 a.m. after several high school students received a photo of someone holding a gun in a restroom, agency spokeswoman Sytonnia Moore said. Apparently the photo was sent via the iPhone AirDrop function, and the person’s face was blurred out or pixelated, she said.
Deputies searched the school and looked through a classroom, after a sheriff’s office K-9 “hit on articles of suspicion,” authorities said in a news release. Students were removed from the class, but no gun was found on campus. Investigators are still trying to determine who sent the photo.
“Currently, no one with a gun has been found or spotted inside or outside of Woodland High School,” Sheriff Reginald Scandrett said Wednesday afternoon, adding that no one was directly threatened or harmed ahead of the lockdown.
Parents were told to go to the Stockbridge Amphitheater parking lot, where deputies brought students from the high school for pickup.
“It’s pretty much over. They’re doing a slow, methodical release,” Moore said about 4:15 p.m.
Wednesday’s threat marks the second time in four weeks the schools have been placed on lockdown. A man was taken into custody Sept. 2 after he was allegedly spotted waving a handgun near the high school campus.
Witnesses reported seeing a man wearing gray shorts, but no shirt or shoes, with a gun near Woodland High. One parent instructed her children to “duck” as she drove past the man and into the school’s parking lot, investigators said at the time. The man, later identified as Shelby Mark Poss, was seen running toward the school.
He was later located nearby and a handgun was found, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators said they believe he was under the influence of narcotics at the time. He was charged with reckless conduct and disruption of public schools.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
About the Author
