NEWBERRY COUNTY — Last Wednesday, there were multiple hoax calls made across South Carolina involving school shootings, Newberry Middle School being one of the schools involved in the hoax. Since that time, multiple agencies have been involved in the investigation into the hoax calls.
Sheriff Lee Foster said that the FBI is now the investigating agency since it is multi-jurisdictional and there may be a foreign nexus.
“Although it may be part of a Tik-Tok challenge, I am not convinced of the same,” Foster said. “There were at least seven schools from across the state.”
The FBI made a statement last Wednesday about the incidents: “The FBI is aware of the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made. Similar incidents have occurred recently across the country. The FBI takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.”
Locally in Newberry, Superintendent Alvin Pressley said that the hoax of a school shooting at NMS displayed the strong partnership the district has with local law enforcement.
“Additionally, it showed the areas of improvement needed in parental communications and logistics with parental pick up of students. School administration and law enforcement did an excellent job with a quick response in securing the scene and quickly identifying that there was no viable threat to our students, staff and campus,” he said.
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