EHS student arrested after threatening “to shoot up” school

An Enterprise High School student was arrested Thursday after authorities traced a threatening email to him.

The student, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, was arrested at 10:30 a.m. March 12 by Enterprise Police and charged with making a terrorist threat.

According to EPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Billy Haglund, the EPD received information March 11 at 5 p.m. from the FBI that a threat had been made against EHS via an email sent March 10 to a federal government website.

The threat made in the email was that the person was “going to shoot up Enterprise High School,” Haglund said, adding that EPD immediately initiated an investigation and contacted school officials. “The EPD and EHS officials took additional measures to ensure the safety of the students on campus.”

On March 12, EHS Information Technology personnel were able to determine that a specific student sent the email from a computer in the school, Haglund said. “The student was detained shortly after school started by EPD School Resource Officers and EHS officials.”

Enterprise Police Department Chief T.D. Jones said he wants to remind the community that terroristic threats are taken seriously and that the police department will use all resources available to investigate crimes of this type.

“Through this investigation, it was determined that there was no immediate threat to students and staff at EHS” said Enterprise Schools Superintendent Dr. Camille Wright in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “The EHS administration, in collaboration with the EPD, enacted several precautionary measures to further ensure the safety of all students and staff.

“As always, Enterprise City School officials and the Enterprise Police Department work hand in hand to ensure the safety of all students and staff,” Wright said. “Threats of this nature are always taken seriously and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”