Text threats disrupt Gaffney High

Ledger photo / SCOTT POWELL Hundreds of parents drove to Gaffney High School on Tuesday morning to sign out students after a text message warned of a possible shooting. A second threat was sent Wednesday morning. Students entering Gaffney High School today saw even more security precautions in the wake of a series of threatening text messages that interrupted the school day Tuesday.

Metal detectors were brought into the school and students were told to enter through specific doorways today. And for the second day in a row, an increased police presence was planned.

Gaffney High School became the latest school in the nation to be disrupted by threatening text messages appearing on students' cell phones, claiming some type of violence was going to occur.

The first of two different messages began circulating early Tuesday, leading the school district to inform parents of the situation and hundreds of parents to converge on the school to take their children home.

The second threatening message began circulating Tuesday afternoon, leading to a second notification from the district.

While the threats were not deemed credible, district officials, police and some parents weren't taking any chances.

Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald, one of 13 police officers at the school Wednesday morning, said the person or persons responsible for the threats could be charged with communicating a terrorist threat and unlawful use of a telephone. Both are felonies.

According to Seventh Judicial Circuit Chief Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette, threatening school personnel can result in penalties of five years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. Disturbing school carries a sentence of up to 90 days and $1,000 fine and unlawful use of a telephone carries a sentence of up to 30 days.

It didn't matter if the threats were deemed credible or not to many parents and grandparents. One grandmother waited anxiously Tuesday morning outside Gaffney High School for all four of her grandchildren to be released.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," she said.

And she wasn't alone in that philosophy.

Hundreds of parents and grandparents were lined up outside the school by 10:30 a.m. Tuesday after the apparent hoax sent shockwaves of concern across the campus.

Like the cyber-equivalent of a pulled fire alarm, Gaffney High students reported receiving text messages on cell phones warning that a shooting at the school would occur during the first or second lunch period.

Timenisha Horton, a 10th grader, said she received the same message twice Tuesday.

Horton received the first message at about 6:30 a.m. before school started and another one at about 10 a.m.

"I don't know who's sending them out," she said.

Shenandoah Smith, another 10th grader, said she received the same message and also didn't know its origin.

"I didn't have the contact in my phone," she said. "It just popped up."

Gaffney police officers could find no credible threat at the high school.

Although the text message was an apparent hoax, law enforcement personnel spent the day at the school as a safety precaution.

About 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the school district — as it had done earlier in the day — advised parents through an automated information system called "Alert Now" of the second alleged threat so they could determine whether to send their children to school today.

Two parents told The Gaffney Ledger they would send their daughters to school today. One theorized the extra security measures would make the school safer than ever.

Police were unsure about the origin of the first threatening text message that started the district's troubles Tuesday morning.

"There has been a similar text message going around to different schools dating back to March," Det. Sgt. Ron Ramsey of the Gaffney Police Department said.

Several students showed the first of the text messages to Gaffney High Principal Marlene Davis shortly before 8 a.m.

Immediately after viewing the messages, Cherokee County Superintendent Dr. Bill James said a meeting was held with police to determine the best course of action.

"We wanted to reassure parents and let them know the facts about the situation. We did not want them to get some exaggerated or watered-down rumors about what happened," James said. "We felt the best option was to carry on the school day as normal, but with extra security. We contacted parents to give them the opportunity to sign out their children if they chose to do so."

The Alert Now call sent parents and grandparents to the school in droves.

Roger Pennington, a grandfather, stood in line for more than an hour just to get into the school office so he could pick up his grandson. He wasn't happy with the district's response, saying he felt school should simply have been cancelled and the students released for the day.

There were no incidents.

Still, most of the parents and grandparents felt the threats couldn't be brushed off.

"You hear so much about what's going on in schools nowadays," said Bessie Posey, a grandmother who came to pick up her three grandchildren. "You really can't take any chances."