Cobb schools: Walton HS bomb report ‘not an active threat’

Walton HS sports complex pedestrian bridge

A bomb threat was reported at Walton High School on Tuesday, according to a message that went out to the school community.

But the Cobb County School District said late Tuesday afternoon in response for information from East Cobb News that “there is not an active threat to Walton High School.”

A message from Principal Stephanie Santoro that was sent out around 3 p.m. said that the threat was called into 911, and “our team immediately reported the threat to multiple law enforcement agencies.”

She said in the message those agencies are now conducting an investigation.

“Currently, while there is an increased law enforcement presence, there has been no interruption to the school day, and dismissal is on schedule,” according to the message, which was not more specific.

There were social media reports of a lockdown at Walton that the district did not confirm nor deny when asked by East Cobb News.

It’s the second time an East Cobb school has been what appears to be the subject of false threats in as many weeks, two weeks after a deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder.

Last week, the Cobb County School District said a student at Dickerson Middle School was charged with making threats, but said the student is “not a threat to the school.”

It was among the more than 50 such incidents the district said it has received since the Apalachee shootings that have “not been proven to be actual threats to a Cobb school.”

WSB-TV reported Tuesday afternoon that in addition to the Walton incident, Northview High School in North Fulton went on lockdown, and that a sweep of that campus by police “determined that there was no threat.”

The Cobb school district said that there was no evacuation at Walton.

“We take each reported threat very seriously, including increased law enforcement so the school day can continue without disruption,” a district spokesperson told East Cobb News in a statement.

On Tuesday, the message that went out to the Walton school community said the number of reported threats in the Cobb school district has now grown to more than 60, and that “almost all these incidents were the result of bad behavior on the part of people who are seeking to disrupt the school day.

“Our administration, the District, and law enforcement take every rumored threat seriously and are thoroughly investigating. Once we have an update, we will update you.”

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