Holt Student Arrested for Making Threat
An 18-year-old Holt High School student is in custody after posting a threat on social media. The youth is unidentified due to his age.
The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office notified Holt High staff of the threat, and the school was immediately placed on a campus-wide lockdown.
The threat was posted by the suspect while off campus according to deputies investigating the case. It was lifted only after the student was taken into custody. He is being charged with making a 1st Degree Terrorist Threat.
The frequency of online threats, four this week nationwide, being made in school systems across the state and nation prompted the Tuscaloosa County School System to tighten school security this school year with metal detectors at all middle and high schools in the county.
The Tuscaloosa County School System is reminding parents and students to confidentially report any threats of violence, bullying, peers in crisis, and other imminent threats through the SpeakUp for Safety tip line.
The confidential threat report system can be contacted via email at speakup@tcss.net or by call or texting: (659) 734-2808. Trained safety representatives evaluate information that comes into the tip line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year according to the TCSS website.
Social media terroristic threats against schools are a growing problem nationwide. As has been learned the hard way, all threats must be taken seriously. The national Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) points out a single threat or hoax posted to social media can have a ripple effect, Misinformation can spread, causing confusion and even panic.
CISA says such threats can increase stress on a community, interrupt classes, result in postponed events and result in the expenditure of large amounts of money and take-up valuable time of responders and school officials.
Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Investigators continue to probe the incident.
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