A Statement from District Attorney General Russel Johnson:

Russell Johnson, 9th District Attorney General announced that his office has been cooperating with various law enforcement agencies to coordinate investigations and advise on charging decisions in a rash of ‘school threats’. As has been well publicized in the national and local media since the tragic school shooting in North Georgia last week, the East Tennessee area has experienced numerous instances of students making statements that could be construed by a reasonable person as a threat of mass violence.

Applicable Law: The Tennessee Legislature passed a bill that became law in 2021. This law codified in TCA 39-16-517 states “if a person who recklessly, by any means of communication, threatens to commit an act of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity”, that person can be prosecuted with a crime. ‘[M]ass violence’ means “any act which a reasonable person would conclude could lead to the serious bodily injury, as defined in TCA 39-11-106, or the death of two or more persons”. A violation of this statue was a Class A misdemeanor when the law was passed in 2021. The Legislature raised that to a Class E felony after July 1, 2024.

Instances Where Charges Have Been Brought:

On Wednesday a child who is a student at Wartburg Elementary School was charged with a violation of this statute for verbal statements made in the classroom towards Wartburg Elementary School. This is being investigated and charged by Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.

Also on Wednesday, a student at Roane County High School was charged with a violation of this statute for verbal statements made at the school regarding a threat towards Roane County High School. This is being investigated and charged by Roane County Sheriff’s Office. This student is currently being detained at the Knox County Juvenile Detention Center and will most likely remain in custody until a hearing is held on this case which is expected to be scheduled for September 30th.

Today (Thursday) a student at Cherokee Middle School was charged and taken into custody for verbal statements made about a threat.

A second student at Cherokee Middle School was also charged today from an incident earlier in the week with a ‘false report’ which is a Class C felony, involving a baseless report that could have led to an emergency response to Cherokee Middle School. This is being investigated and charged by Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

Other Instances That Have Been Cleared but Cause Time and Effort For Law Enforcement to Investigate:

Many counties are still receiving and investigating ‘threats’, the vast majority of which are unfounded and are made to cause disruption, confusion and even cause chaos. Morgan, Loudon and Roane authorities have seen ‘copycat’ threats, mostly from out of state.

Loudon County Sheriff’s Office is having a meeting later today like the two-hour meeting we held this morning with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Roane County Sheriff’s Office and the Roane County Director of Schools. The threats that Loudon County has seen are of an out-of-state nature. Meigs County has not yet received any credible threats.

Particularly disturbing to all of us involved in trying to evaluate and protect schools, students and faculty is the situation in Rockwood where two ‘vague and non-specific’ social media posts from four years ago have been dredged up and are making the rounds as if they are current. The person(s) initiating this new social media effort is believed to have some animus towards law enforcement in Roane County. The original post was made by a troubled child who was evaluated and provided services four years ago and is now doing well. In fact, Homeland Security was brought in to investigate this case because of the connection to local law enforcement. By reposting and presenting the old posts as current, it has caused issues for the child and the parents unfairly and unjustifiably. This is yet another confusing and disappointing aspect of adult use of social media.

This is Serious and the Process is Serious with Consequences:

Obviously, school shootings are the most horrific outcomes of threats, so that is why these are being treated by the DA’s office and law enforcement as sincere and real. The goal of the investigation is to first evaluate the credibility and sincerity of the threat before charges are brought. Once charges are filed in the juvenile courts, the charged juveniles are entitled to due process of law. They are afforded additional privacy considerations during the investigation and throughout the juvenile court process. Parents and their children should know that these charges can lead to life altering consequences for those making the threats, so we tread carefully before bringing criminal charges against any juvenile.

These cases are being prosecuted through the appropriate juvenile court. Juveniles charged with these crimes can and sometimes do result in immediate incarceration at a juvenile detention facility, usually in Knox County. They can require mental health evaluations and assessments which are done utilizing the Tennessee Resiliency Project (TRP) at Helen Ross McNabb. These assessments deal with mental health and substance abuse concerns. They can evaluate the home life of the child and whether the child is being physically or mentally abused, and whether they are being bullied at school.

Why We Are Posting This Much Information:

We are posting this to make the public aware, especially parents who have children that engage in this type of dangerous and criminal activity, that law enforcement and our office take these matters seriously, and they should as well. These threats disrupt other students’ educational opportunities, cause anxiety and disrupt the daily function of our schools.

Many of us here at this office have children and/or grandchildren in school in this district or surrounding counties. We share the same concern and confusion as each of the parents with children in our schools. The North Georgia shooting is immediate and real. The Covenant School shooting is still on all Tennesseans’ minds.

Many parents are holding their children out of school. The Roane County Sheriff’s Office has asked me to inform you that if they feel that a threat is credible and harm is imminent, they will immediately act. They would not be sending their own children to Roane County Schools if they thought they were placing them in danger. We live in an entirely different world, so anything is possible, but they will react and respond when necessary.

We are doing all we can to address what is a reaction that is hard to understand. These types of actions and reactions are far more serious than the old days of kids pulling fire alarms to cause disruption and to get out of class or school. These threats are far more harmful and potentially deadly. Parents, please talk to your children about these issues and be patient with law enforcement and the process. The Director of Schools especially requested that you make your children aware that if they see, hear, or read about a threat – have them share it with a schoolteacher or administrator. Do not spread it on social media or text messages to exacerbate the disruption, share it with the people in charge of the classroom or school.