12-year-old arrested after making ‘terroristic threats’ to Opelika Middle School

OPELIKA, Ala. (WTVM) - The Opelika Police Department arrested a 12-year-old after two threats were made to Opelika Middle School in two days.

The first threat occurred on Tuesday, September 20. According to officials, the threat was sent through social media and shared with law enforcement at 7:15 a.m. CST.

The second threat occurred on Wednesday, September 21. The Opelika Police Department spoke to the media on the incident after students were cleared to go back into the school.

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On September 21, officers were made aware of a threat to Opelika Middle School posted to social media. Officers responded and began evacuating the building.

Opelika Police Department’s K-9 unit searched the building and found no evidence of a threat. The students were taken to the recreation center across the street from the school where parents were notified about the incident and encouraged to come pick their kids up from the rec center.

The situation has since been cleared and students have returned to the building.

“When it comes to a threat of his nature, we’re not going to take a chance on something of that kind and we executed our safety plan this morning to make sure and ensure safety,” said Dr. Farrell Seymore, superintendent of the district.

Opelika Police Chief Shane Healey says officers thoroughly searched the school and brought in bomb dogs to make sure no explosive devices were located.

“We did clear the school and didn’t find anything and at that point we turned the school back over to Dr. Seymore and the middle school staff,” said Healey.

“Today’s threat did come from the same username as the one we got yesterday,” said Healey. “Again, we started those protocols to track down those usernames and IP addresses. At this point were still in the middle of that but its starting to narrow down.”

During the investigation, a 12-year-old was developed as a suspect and arrested on two counts of terroristic threats - one for each incident.

The case will be presented to juvenile court. The case is still under investigation and additional charges are pending, according to officials.

If a parent would like to check out their child, they should report to the Opelika Rec Center on Denson Drive.

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