Updated: Officers make a second arrest in connection with Tuesday's bomb threat at Colquitt County Schools
COLQUITT COUNTY, GA -- Updated Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 12:59 p.m.
The Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office has made another arrest in connection with Tuesday’s bomb threat at the Colquitt County Schools.
Officers arrested Jerome Lashawn Osby, 34, and charged him with one count of Hindering a Criminal Apprehension. Investigators at the Sheriff’s Office say Osby hid Xavier Lavare Sims, 24, in a wall of his home while police were searching for Sims.
In regards to the bomb threat at the schools, Sims is charged with one count of Terroristic Threats, one count of Transmitting False Public Alarm and 14 counts of Disruption of a Public School. Investigators say more charges could be brought against Sims when he goes before a grand jury.
Stay connected to MySouthwestGa.com and FOX 31 News at 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. for the latest details.
Updated at Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 5:05 p.m.
According to the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office, Xavier Lavare Sims, 24, was arrested in connection with the Colquitt County Schools bomb threat.A call came into 911 at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday about a bomb at a Colquitt County school that would detonate at 1:45 in the afternoon, but which school was anyone’s guess.
"We heard that the caller, in an extended message had a number of things to say, but what we were interested in is that he had said that a bomb had been placed in an unnamed Colquitt County school," says Superintendent Leonard McCoy.
"He never would specify one particular school, just that it was a school in the Colquitt County area," says Sheriff Al Whittington.
McCoy says a message was sent to parents through the school system’s crisis call line and all 8,700 Colquitt County students were evacuated immediately.
"We began to move and get our children from the schools to the homes, realizing the inconvenience this caused for parents but taking safety first," says McCoy.
He says the school system plans to pursue full prosecution and that law enforcement is in agreement with him.
Stay connected with MySouthwestGa.com as details develop.
Update:
“Certainly today has not been and ordinary day in the lives of the children of Colquitt County nor for that matter the staff of Colquitt County Schools,” says Colquitt County Schools Superintendent Leonard McCoy.
McCoy received a call about a bomb being placed at an unnamed school, and began moving staff and students out of schools.
The school system used a crisis call line that alerted parents of the situation and to notify them that students were being placed on buses. If a student did not ride a bus, parents were asked to come pick up their child at the school or at a nearby church at their convenience.
As of 2:00 p.m., there are two teams of bomb-sniffing dogs going through the schools. They have covered three schools and have 11 left to check.
McCoy says he will be meeting with administrators at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the protocol for such a situation, what they did correctly on Tuesday and what can be improved.
Law enforcement from the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office and the Moultrie Police Department have been dispatched to local schools after a bomb threat.
Lt. Shannon Hart with the Colquitt County Sheriff's Office says someone called in to the 911 dispatch center and issued the threat.
Stay connected to MySouthwestGa.com as this story develops and the FOX 31 Newscast at 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
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