PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Students at Adam Middle School stepped off their bus to smiles and greetings of, “Good morning,” from a line of Prestonsburg Police officers outside the school. The morning bustle was punctuated with occasional outbursts of laughter, as officers kidded around with some of the children they recognized.
“Why are there so many police officers here?” one young girl asked, as she looked around. That prompted another round of laughter at a joke made by a teacher just out of earshot.
Down the road a few miles, a similar scene was playing out at Allen Elementary, this time with members of the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office.
But while the students experienced an almost jovial encounter with police Friday morning, their reason for being there was deadly serious.
Thursday evening, administrators with the Floyd County Board of Education became aware of a threat made against both schools. They contacted Prestonsburg Police and the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, who began an immediate investigation.
That investigation resulted in a finding of no credible threat of danger at the schools, but an increased police presence awaited students at the two schools Friday morning, out of an abundance of caution.
The two Floyd County schools are just the latest to experience threats this week. Similar events played out in Paintsville and Pikeville on Tuesday, and on Thursday, a 12-year-old Lawrence County student was charged with third-degree terroristic threatening for a threat against Louisa Middle School.
Prestonsburg Police Chief Ross Shurtleff joined officers and detectives at Adams Middle School. He maintained a position with two other officers outside the school’s main entrance, where parents dropped off students. He believes the trend of threats against schools has been prompted by what he calls “a perfect storm” of recent events.
“You had the school shooting down in Georgia, and then you had the I-75 shooting, which didn’t involve a school, but it did make it local,” Shurtleff said. “I think some kids see that and think they’ve found a way to get out of school for the day.”
But serious threat or harmless prank, police are taking each threat seriously. While many of the officers outside Adams Friday morning agreed that this latest threat was probably some student’s idea of gag, one officer said, “As soon as you begin to relax and not take things seriously, that’s when things go crazy.”
Shurtleff said the investigation into the threats against Adams and Allen is continuing. Police have spoken to an adult who said he saw the threat on a social media site and brought it to the attention of others. They took an electronic device from that person to perform a more detailed electronic investigation.
Shurtleff is confident that the perpetrator of the latest threat will be found, and that could lead to a charge of first-degree terroristic threatening, a felony punishable by 5-to-10 years in prison.
“When we find out who did this, and we will find out who did this, we will make an arrest and they will be going to jail,” the chief said.
