Last week, an investigation by the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest of a juvenile student from Ardmore High School. LCSO said it had evidence the student was attempting to acquire a firearm in order to murder another student.

In the wake of the arrest, Limestone County Sheriff Joshua McLaughlin said the rumor mill in Ardmore began spinning, but he said he wants members of the community to focus on facts and not get caught up in those rumors.

“I do want the community to know their children are safe,” McLaughlin said. “The community is safe. That has been one of the biggest questions since this (event) has happened.”

Finding the evidence

McLaughlin said Investigator Kristen King uncovered a possible attempt by an Ardmore student to obtain a firearm in order to harm another student during an unrelated investigation.

McLaughlin said LCSO found there was something to what was found, and School Resource Officer Brandon Baker began aiding the sheriff’s office and school officials in interviewing students that could be identified through intercepted messages.

McLaughlin said LCSO soon had the student in custody thanks to the efforts of everyone involved.

“(Baker) played a huge role in this,” McLaughlin said. “It’s always good to have him there as a deterrent, but the fact he knew these children, was able to reach out to them and ask if they knew (the suspect) gave us the upper hand. We were able to make contact and bring this case to a conclusion much faster.”

Though some rumors may have said otherwise, McLaughlin said he wants to confirm that no member of the sheriff’s office or Ardmore’s faculty found a weapon on campus.

“During all of our interviews we never had anyone disclose they had seen (the suspect) with a weapon on campus,” McLaughlin said. “Your children are safe. My investigators, SROs and school faculty are all working together every single day to make sure that even when there is the suggestion of a possible threat, we are not going to dismiss it. We are going to act on it right away. We are going to do our best to make sure your children are safe.”

Though McLaughlin said incidents like this do not occur very often in Limestone County, the arrest came within a day or two of a high school shooting in Michigan where a 15-year-old student shot and killed four classmates.

Prevention

LCSO found records of the potential plot going back for two weeks before the arrest. McLaughlin said the sooner someone spots a potential issue and reports it, the sooner the case can be resolved.

“We talk to faculty about ‘see something, hear something, say something,’” he said. “This is an absolute perfect case for that. This is something that some children may have had an idea about — it may have been suggested through messages or social media, whatever the case may be. It had been going one, but no one had brought it forward.

McLaughlin reminds parents, students and faculty if anyone sees anything suspicious like in this case, it’s very important you reach out to someone.

“Tell your principal or counselor or the police department if you see something,” he said. “We would much rather it be reported and be nothing than it to not be reported and find out about it later down the road.”

McLaughlin said each school has its own steps implemented to help make sure incidents like seen in Michigan do not occur, and he said having SROs in schools is also very helpful, as students are more likely to come forward with information to someone they personally know.

“I would like to thank my investigators and Baker for the job they did,” he said. “I want to thank the community for reaching out, and I’m extremely thankful for my employees, the school and faculty for preventing this incident from going any further.”