Law enforcement officers have one juvenile in custody in relation to the recent social media threats made to the Jefferson Davis County School District.

According to authorities, it is possible that two additional juveniles will be brought in this afternoon. Pending charges will be making terroristic threats.

“We will not stop until each person is held accountable for these actions,” said Jefferson Davis County Sheriff Ron Strickland. “The children in our county deserve to feel safe at school.”

Threats to the district were made on Instagram Feb. 9, Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, as well as one in December 2021. All three schools in the district were on lockdown for several hours after each threat. “The terroristic threats disrupt the entire educational process and create stress for our teaching and learning environment,” said JDC Superintendent Ike Haynes. The district moved to virtual instruction Feb. 18 and 19. “Our children  have a right to learn without fear and they have a right to go to school in a safe, healthy environment. That is a foundational promise we make to our children. These threats must stop. We cannot have our children placed in harms way.”

The threats were made from four different Instagram accounts with the four threats:  “Y’all better not send yall kids I’m doing a school shoot out at jdc elementary,” “shooting at JDC elementary,”  “jdc ain’t safe we know what time y’all getting off lockdown it’s up today I’m coming watch out” and “Doing a shootout at JDC Elementary School.”

The Jefferson Davis County Sheriff’s Department is being assisted with the investigation by the MBI, MASAIC, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the Jefferson Davis County School District.