Threats At Patriot Academy Heighten Police Presence

Jefferson County High School Patriot Academy had extra law enforcement protection on Thursday, September 8, 2016 due to security concerns regarding a threat that was received via social media.

Though the Patriot Academy is in the jurisdiction of the Dandridge Police Dept, Dandridge Police Chief Carson Williams stated that his department was acting in a reinforcement capacity because the threat actually initiated in another jurisdiction.

Williams confirmed that a female student from the White Pine area was threatened on a facebook account. Reportedly, the threat stated the intent to fatally attack the freshman girl, the students in her class, her family and the Jefferson City Police.

The juvenile female is believed to be a transfer student and to have had communication via photographs with a boy in Jefferson City. Williams stated that facebook is cooperating with law enforcement. Efforts to track the IP address have proven difficult due to scattered addresses being utilized.

According to a representative of Jefferson County School Department of Education, the school was not put on lock down while the incident was investigated, but they did confirm that there was a significant police presence at the Patriot Academy on Thursday.

The credibility of the threat could not be confirmed. Representatives of the Jefferson City Police Department were not available for comment.

Source: K. Depew, News Director