HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — An area-wide crusade to stop threats of violence against schools throughout North Alabama continued Thursday with the arrests of at least two more students.
Late Thursday evening, Huntsville City Schools officials confirmed the arrest of a Grissom High School student following threats made via a student group chat platform.
"We immediately began working with law enforcement to investigate," Grissom administrators said in a statement emailed to parents. "Law enforcement identified the student who made the threat, and the student now faces pending charges along with serious disciplinary consequences from our school."
An East Limestone High School student was also arrested Thursday for standing up during class and declaring to have a gun in his backpack. According to the Limestone County Sheriff's Office, the student and backpack were searched and no weapon was found.
The student admitted to making the threat but had no reasoning for making it. The Sheriff's Office arrested the student and charged them with Making a Terrorist Threat in the Second Degree.
At least nine students in the Limestone County School District alone have been arrested for making school threats, and several students in districts across the region have also faced arrest and felony charges.
There has been at least one announcement of a threat and/or an arrest related to a threat over the past eight consecutive school days.
As we have mentioned in a previous VERIFY report, minors can be arrested on charges of making a terroristic threat in Alabama, regardless of actual intent and regardless of method (verbal, email, social media post, etc.).
The penalty can be as high as ten years' incarceration or an amount of time served in a juvenile facility.
Again, officials request that any threat be reported to law enforcement and school leadership. They advise against sharing suspicious social media posts publicly in order to help stop undue panic.