No danger found after rumored threat for Parkers Chapel Schools

After conducting an investigation, the Union County Sheriff’s Office found no threat to Parkers Chapel Schools.

Superintendent Michael White said the school was made aware of a rumor going around social media on Sunday. Originally posted by a student, UCSO Chief Deputy Charlie Phillips said that a rumored threat of a shooting would happen, but that no threat was made.

White said he contacted the principal and counselor to help him look into the rumors by making phone calls and trying to trace down information about who said what and if there was any validity to it.

By Sunday night, White said, they felt confident that there was no threat and the school wasn’t at risk. However, he still called UCSO to help ensure student safety on Monday and to have a face to face investigation with those involved.

“Monday morning, we made sure we monitored the school,” White said. “I got there at 6:30 in the morning just to monitor and make sure there was nothing suspicious, nothing going on. There wasn’t. We met with all the kids, they came in and talked to them, and kept an eye on things.”

White said the school worked with the UCSO once school started to continue investigating and they came to the conclusion that there was “no information that validated or backed up what was posted on social media.”

White said it did affect the school’s attendance for Monday, but that things were back to normal Tuesday.

Phillips said the rumors stemmed from an incident that happened at Barton Jr. High School. The UCSO did not make any arrested because the rumor was found to be unsubstantiated, however some of the students involved are facing disciplinary action, White said.

“I ask that people going forward realize that we don’t need to be posting things on social media,” White said. “We’re better off going to whatever authority that can do something about it rather than putting it out on social media. It’s an unfortunate incident and I tell people that it’s a lot like playing a game of ‘Telephone’. You’ve got one little piece of information but when it gets through a number of people it turns out to be a totally different story. Unfortunately, people took it as gospel truth and ran from there.”

Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook @MichaelAZShine for updates on Union County school news.

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