Press Release: Marshall County Sheriff’s Office 9-27-2019
Over the last few days, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Grant Police Department, has investigated reports of possible threats being made at DAR School involving an Instagram account depicting “Blinky The Clown”. This account referred to a scavenger hunt that several students participated in around campus and off campus. We did not find any evidence of a threat toward DAR Schools related to this Instagram account.
However, Sheriff Investigators obtained information of a possible threat toward the school unrelated to the Instagram account. This information was uncovered during interviews conducted at the school. A decision was made to take a pro-active approach by the sheriff’s office and school officials to investigate this new information.
Based on the new information, sheriff’s investigators and deputies arrested a 16-year-old student male today. The student had been suspended earlier in the week and was not an immediate threat to the anyone at the school. He is charged with making a terrorist threat involving the school, a class C felony. He is being held by juvenile authorities. We do not take these types of threats lightly. The safety of our students is priority. The sheriff’s office has worked on this all week.
During the course of the investigation, we did not believe the students or faculty were under immediate threat or danger, and no weapons were involved. We were able to investigate and develop information and make an arrest today based on the hard work of our deputies and investigators. We will hold students accountable for their actions that disrupts school and related school activities.
Also, we were made aware of rumors and false information being posted on social media. These rumors only added to the confusion and hysteria in the public related to this investigation. If at anytime we felt the safety of students or faculty was compromised, we would notify school officials and act accordingly. With the recent activity in all schools in Marshall County, we would ask parents to speak to their children about the importance of school safety.
I would like to say thank you to Grant Police Department, Dr. Cindy Wigley, Juvenile Probation, and all county school officials that helped today.
Sheriff Phil Sims
