PRESS RELEASE

Thursday September 15, 2022

Update on Threat at West End High School

Joint statement from Sheriff Jonathon Horton and Etowah County Superintendent Dr. Alan Cosby.

On September 14, 2022 as Sheriff's Office Investigators and School Resource Officers were following up on leads dealing with the threat and social media post that occurred at West End High School. Investigators found the following information:

 

After further interviews and obtaining a confession from a different juvenile. The screen shots from a Snapchat account that has been shared on social media platforms between other students and parents were fake and created by someone other than the accused. The fake snapchat post were made by a juvenile then shared with an adult for the promise of money and from there it was disseminated on social media platforms.

 

The person that has confessed to creating the fake post is a juvenile and is being handled in the juvenile court system. 

 

Over the past several days the fake post being shared has caused alarm, and trust issues with the Etowah County School System and Law Enforcement. Also due to this alarm multiple students have missed several days of school.

 

"This is a prime example of believing everything that is shared on social media and continuing to share and not letting Law Enforcement and School Personnel do their job and the public not trusting the process. These type cases mostly involve juvenile offenders and some information cannot be distributed to the public due to the privacy of juvenile court cases"

 

The safety and security of students, staff and community as a whole continues to be and will always be the focus.

 

This investigation is still ongoing and more charges could come.

 

There is no known or active threat at West End High School or any Etowah County School, or any extracurricular activities at the schools.