LAUREL HILL, NC (WBTW) – Two more students at Carver Middle School have been accused of being involved in communication to plan an attack at the school.
A total of six students are now accused of creating a “hit list” of teachers and other students, along with allegedly plotting to carry out an active shooter situation at the school.
Officials with the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office said they believe the mass attack was not a hoax and would have happened if the planning had not been reported.
“The Sheriff’s Office has probable cause to believe these communications were intended to be an actual act of mass violence being planned,’ the SCSO posted Wednesday morning on social media.
The SCSO also posted a contradiction to a statement made by the Public Schools of Scotland County that school officials were told not to release any information to the public.
“The Sheriff’s Office at no time, instructed any staff or member of the school board or school to refrain from informing parents or family, and at no time instructed the school to stop or prevent the staff members from taking further action such as ordering a lock down, or continuing in a safety sweep or inspection of the school,” reads the post.
Parents of students at a the middle school met Tuesday night with school officials to express their concern about how they were informed of the possible threat. Many said they wished Scotland County Schools gave them better notification about the threat.
“As long as there’s a potential for my child to get hit with a stray bullet, I’m concerned,” said one parent.
“I think that they have a lot of communication issues with the sheriff’s department they need to work out,” said Marion Locklear, who has a son at Carver Middle School.
The school district says it knew about the threat after a student reported an Instagram post Thursday afternoon. The district also says the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office asked it not to release any information.
The district says it was so the investigation wasn’t affected and because there was no immediate threat.
“We will continue to make safety our number priority and we will continue to cooperate with law enforcement, but once we turn it over to the police, we have to make sure that we comply with what it is that they do,” said Dr. Mary Hemphill, principal of Carver Middle School.
SCS superintendent Ron Hargrave says the district didn’t know many specifics about the threat at first since it was discussed on personal cell phones, not the school-issued Chromebook laptops.
“We would have been able to, through the filter that we have, to detect those words,” said Hargrave.
Investigators say the accused students made a “hit list,” including at least two teachers and several students.
Some parents want to know if their child was named and the sheriff’s office says it has told them.
“If your child’s name was on that list, you would have been contacted,” said Sgt. Sheronica Smith with the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office and the resource officer at Carver Middle School.
Some parents said they’re upset because no investigators from the sheriff’s office went to Tuesday night’s meeting. Others say they’re worried the school has no metal detectors and only one resource officer.
Dr. Hemphill says parents will get updates on the investigation.
