LAWRENCE CO.—Disclosure has learned that the “soft lockdown” at schools within Lawrence County may have been prompted by kids inspired by a boy who was removed from the school system late last year for doing the same thing.
All schools in Lawrenceville, including grade schools, were placed on soft lockdown earlier today due to a threat unspecified at that time.
In early December 2013, Unit 20 schools were placed on a lockdown situation after a particular young man, who had apparently NOT been a student at Lawrenceville High but might have been being homeschooled, issued similarly vague threats about the school to some people he was not necessarily friends with. Those people reported it and the school was placed on lockdown and parents were alerted. However, the threat wasn’t very distinct, as the boy was actually on his way to stay with relatives in another state on the day the “threat” was actually made.
The kid from last December’s incident, we’ve confirmed with Lawrenceville Police Chief Jim White, is currently in lockup in Franklin County Juvenile Detention, so today’s event doesn’t involve him directly…but his actions last year may have prompted a couple of ne’er-do-wells to follow the errant activity, thus causing yet another lockdown. His name was used when a few minors were messaging back and forth today on a Facebook page, using the school computers, making the “threats.”
The soft lockdown will be over after school gets let out. The school handled the threats with assistance from the Lawrenceville Police Department.