Tuesday morning,  Ed Paulk, the School Resource Officer (SRO) at  Highland Home  school  received word there was a possible active shooter threat at the school.

Paulk immediately contacted the Crenshaw County Sheriff’s Office.and Sheriff’s Investigators and Deputies responded quickly to ascertain the situation.

According to Crenshaw County Deputy Chris, the Crenshaw County School System placed the campus on a heightened alert status while the threat was being investigated.

After a full investigation, Stewart said investigators found the threat was not credible and the social media post threat had originated in Chicago.

Threat rumors began when two students said they received a media chat the night before.

This chat involved people that the students did not know and implied there would be a shooting at an unnamed school.The students did not know who had sent the chat message or where it originated.

Investigators determined no credible threat was imminent to Highland Home school, its students, or its faculty.

Both the Crenshaw County Sheriff’s Office and the Crenshaw County School System take the safety and welfare of the students in their county with the utmost concern, Stewart said.

The Sheriff’s social media post indicated school officials considered the students’ safety as a top priority.

“We want everybody to remain as calm as possible,” said Stewart.

He went on to say that when people become panicked during this type of situation, phone towers can become overloaded, making the situation more difficult to manage for first responders.

“We totally understand that people want to get to the school and check their kids out,” Steward said.

But he stressed that it was of the utmost importance for parents to wait until the authorities arrive so they can ascertain the situation and secure the buildings.

Stewart credited the quick response of the Highland Home faculty and their SRO, with generating a quick law enforcement response which helped to defuse a potentially dangerous situation.