Sumter middle school student charged after Lakewood High shooting threat on Facebook

A 14-year-old middle school student has been taken into custody after the threat of a shooting at Lakewood High School in response to alleged bullying was made on social media Sunday.

Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said Monday the department does not think the student, a boy who goes to Chestnut Oaks Middle School and who has made a similar threat before, had the “means or capability to carry out this threat.” As a precaution, extra deputies were at the school off Old Manning Road Monday.

“He has told us that the threat was regarding bullying at school, and we are investigating that, too,” Dennis said.

Dennis said the school district worked with law enforcement to ensure everyone’s safety.

“Once we were aware of it, we worked closely with them to identify the subject,” Dennis said. “Our schools are a safe haven for students, and we are working closely with the school district to keep it that way. There is no reason to keep your child home from school today.”

In a Facebook post Sunday, the sheriff’s office said it was aware of the threat but that there was nothing credible about the suspect following through with it. The post said there would be extra deputies at Lakewood Monday.

Dennis also commended the deputies who worked to identify the suspect. He said the boy will be remanded to the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and that the district will follow its own policy as far as disciplinary action.

This is the second time this student has posted a threat of violence toward Lakewood on Facebook.

“He has made a similar threat before,” he said.

Though initial reports said the student was a female,  the then-13-year-old male Chestnut Oaks Middle School student was petitioned to Family Court in February for allegedly writing on a restroom floor during school he would "shoot the school down."

In September, a 15-year-old Lakewood student was charged with bringing a pistol and ammunition onto campus inside his backpack. The student and his backpack were searched after other students told school officials he had been showing the weapon to his classmates.

That student was charged two years ago for reportedly sending emails threatening the lives of Dennis and then-Sumter School District Superintendent Frank Baker, and he reportedly threatened to “shoot up” Hillcrest Middle School when he attended that school in 2016.

A few threats were made to Sumter and Manning high schools and Chestnut Oaks in February, none of which were deemed as a potentially viable threat.