A suspect was taken into custody Tuesday for allegedly making a threatening post to Buford High School on social media the night before.
The threat appeared to display intended weaponry and was cryptically captioned, “Buford High School. Good luck”.
The entire Buford City School System has been placed on a soft lockdown and is operating under heightened security measures with support from the Gwinnett County Police Department who are patrolling the area for any suspicious activity.
The Gwinnett Police Accident Investigation team was also active in the area due to an accident at the Buford Highway and Hamilton Mill intersection this morning. Their active presence here was not associated with the documented threat to the school.
Buford City Schools has issued a statement and assured the community that:
“We are deeply troubled by the acts of this individual. We do not condone threats of any kind, even if the intent was not to do harm. We appreciate the hard work of our Administrators, SROs and GCPD as they continue to keep Buford safe.”
School administration issued the following timeline of events:
- A threat was posted on social media against Buford High School Monday evening.
- As the school district received reports and began its investigation Tuesday morning, the perpetrator, who was not a current or former Buford City Schools student, turned himself in and is currently in custody of authorities.
- After gathering and vetting facts, an email alert was sent to parents and staff.
- All Buford City Schools were put on a soft lockdown and will remain on lockdown for the remainder of the day.
The school system updated and reiterated parts of their statement to include this message to the broader community:
“We work diligently to ensure the safety and security of our students. We will not tolerate threats of any kind and would like to thank the students, staff, parents, and guardians who reported the information to the administration. Please continue to say something if you see or hear something…Thank you for your patience and trust as we continue to care for your children every day.”
(A screenshot currently circulating online which appears to be related to the incident.)
