By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Escambia Academy Headmaster Hugh Fountain said Tuesday that school officials have not been able to determine who started a rumor that evolved into a reported threat against the school, supposedly made by a student who posted it on a social media site.
The threat was reportedly posted Monday night, October 29, on Snapchat.
According to a message from the aunt of another EA student, “there’s a young boy … threatening to shoot the Escambia Academy up.” The woman said she notified Fountain, who notified authorities.
The headmaster said he has seen no proof that such a threat was ever made.
“We’ve spent the whole morning and half of last night trying to track down the source of the rumor,” he said. “Basically, it looks like three kids were having a conversation about what it would be like if something like that happened. There was no real threat, or I haven’t seen anything that was a threat.”
Escambia County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said early Tuesday that school officials seemed to feel that the situation was one they could control.
“We got a call last night about the threat that was posted on Snapchat,” Lambert said. “We made sure the school knew about it, and the headmaster said he was aware of it and thought it was blown out of proportion.”
Lambert said the student, a senior who is an adult under Alabama law, has not yet been charged in connection with the incident, although charges of making a terroristic threat could be forthcoming.
“We haven’t made an arrest right now,” the chief deputy said. “We have filed a report and we will present it to the district attorney to see if he wants to file any charges.”
The name of the student who reportedly posted the threat is known but will not be published until or unless an arrest is made.
Fountain said the school had taken no action — against any student or other person — in response to the incident.
“Nobody has pressed any charges; nobody has been suspended; nobody has been expelled,” he said. “There was nothing to it, and we’ve had a normal day at school today.”