Limestone County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk said Tuesday afternoon he and his staff would remain vigilant in protecting students against violence, whether the danger is real or a threat on social media.

Sisk’s comments came several hours after Ardmore High School was placed on lockdown because of a perceived threat posted Monday night to Facebook by a sophomore at the school. The threat referenced spraying “choppas” in the halls of the high school. “Choppas” is urban slang for an automatic machine gun like an AK-47.

Sisk said it was his understanding the student’s comment was referencing a rap lyric, but officials took the threat very seriously.

“I want to make it perfectly clear to parents and community folks — making threats on social media platforms is no joke; it’s not a game,” he said. “We’re not going to take it lightly. We’re going to investigate and look into the matter and look into it deliberately and precisely. … We believed this was credible, and acted as if it was credible.”

About the threat

The threat was first discovered by Ardmore Police Officer David Posey, who contacted school officials at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. The school was then placed on lockdown, but school staff had a difficult time finding the threat on social media and identifying the student because there was a power outage.

Power was restored a brief time later, which allowed staff to identify the student. Sisk said the student, by that time, was on a bus en route to the Limestone County Career Technical Center. The student was met there by deputies when he departed from the bus, Sisk said, and was taken into custody.

Sisk said an alert was sent out to parents about the situation at 10:25 a.m., and the lockdown was lifted at 10:30 a.m.

The superintendent said the student who made the threat was also involved in an altercation with another student on the bus, which was captured on YouTube. Sisk said administrators have reviewed the video footage, and other disciplinary action could follow.

The News Courier does not print the name of a juvenile offender unless he or she is charged as an adult. Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones said the student would enter the juvenile court system.

Procedures

Athens High School faced two similar threats last week, and a threat made Wednesday led school officials to dismiss school for the day and allow parents to pick up students. When asked why Ardmore didn’t also dismiss, Sisk said the school system has specific procedures in place to deal with a variety of threats. He added, however, that those procedures are not public knowledge for safety reasons.

“Our response isn’t going to be predictable, and it isn’t something someone can plan for,” he said. “We have a manual we don’t share publicly, but our administrators know what to do in each situation.”

Safety

There is a school resource officer at each Limestone County school, which remains a point of pride for Sisk and the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office. As useful as those armed officers are, however, Sisk said he would like to take safety initiatives a step further in terms of preparedness.

The superintendent said the Board of Education is in negotiations with a company called SafeDefend, which manufactures a fingerprint-activated locker that — when activated — immediately alerts SROs, law enforcement and school administrators about potential classroom threats.

Inside the box are several items a teacher could use, including nonlethal weapons like pepper spray, flex cuffs, expanded baton, window break, whistle and a trauma kit.

“It’s a fairly radical way to respond to an active shooter,” Sisk said, adding that it would be his hope to purchase at least one of the safety lockers for each school.

According to information on SafeDefend’s website, the lockers cost about $500 each, with a monitoring fee of $59.95 per month.