COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County deputies say they've arrested a teenager for making a hoax threat against Lower Richland High School earlier this week.
Officers say the 16-year-old was taken into custody and charged with unlawful use of 911, aggravated breach of peace, and unlawful communication.
Richland County deputies say around 2:45 p.m. Monday they got a call there was a shooting on the campus of Lower Richland High. The school resource officer at the school was able to quickly determined that the threat was false.
Officers were able to find out that the call came from campus and they announced charges against a 16-year-old. He was booked at the juvenile wing of the Richland County jail.
“I hope this sends a message to the other kids out there who think this is a prank,” Sheriff Lott said. “Calls like this are taken seriously and this student wasted resources and instilled fear into others at Lower Richland all for a joke. These calls will be taken seriously and I wanted students to know that they will be locked up, not sent home with their parents.”
The sheriff's department also said Tuesday it was aware of other threats circulating on social media about other schools but they have found no credible information to support them.
Those incidents come after over a dozen false calls of school shootings in progress in South Carolina last Wednesday. Three were reported in the Midlands: One at Blythewood, another at Newberry Middle School, and one other at Sumter High. All those reports turned out to be hoaxes.
In the case of the Blythewood High incident, a heavy law enforcement response took place and the school executed its active shooter protocol. That led to students having to evacuate the school, and after it was determined to be false, the rest of the school day was canceled and Blythewood High had a e-learning day Thursday.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the call was made to seem as if it came from inside the school but was later determined that was not the case.
The source of those calls is under investigation by local, state, and federal authorities.