FORT MILL S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – First it was a 14 year old, now a 16 year old. Fort Mill Police saying its investigation is in reference to the written threats discovered at Fort Mill High School on September 8, 2022.
FMPD detectives say they have identified a second suspect in this case. The second person is described as sixteen-year-old male who is a Fort Mill High School student and resides in Fort Mill.
The 16-year-old is being charged as a juvenile with the following: one count of Student Threats, one count of Threatening a Public Employee, and four counts of Vandalism.
In regards to the 14-year-old male that was identified earlier in the week. He is also a Fort Mill High School student.
He is being charged as a juvenile with the following: one count of Student Threats and one count of Vandalism. Both teens were taken into custody, served their juvenile summons/petitions for the charges brought forth and then released to the custody of their parent/guardian.
Below is the email sent to parents from the FMSD after the 2nd arrest.
From the Office of the Superintendent:
Dear Fort Mill School District Family,
I have some additional positive news to share with you regarding the recent situation at Fort Mill High School. We have received notification from law enforcement that an additional individual has been charged in relation to the messages written on the bathroom walls at Fort Mill High School last week. This individual is believed to be responsible for the remaining messages at the school and will now face school discipline and criminal action.
We are thankful to the school and district staff, law enforcement, and to the community for the support in response to this situation. Our school and district staff were in constant communication with law enforcement from the beginning of this situation, and we were able to implement additional precautionary measures immediately. I especially want to thank our teachers and school staff for the uninterrupted education in the classroom while this incident was addressed.
While we are happy to have a resolution to this situation, we continue to ask parents to talk with their students about the impact of this type behavior. As you can see from this incident, actions like these cause major disruptions to education, unwarranted stress and anxiety for students, parents and staff, and take important resources away from other possible emergencies in our district and community. I would also like to ask that everyone refrain from perpetuating rumors or misinformation on social media. This can cause additional impediments to investigations of this type and unnecessary panic in the community. Our ability to respond to these types of situations is only strengthened by the involvement of our community. If you see something, say something by reaching out to the administration or via our tip line, which can be found on the district and school websites at https://www.fortmillschools.org/tipline.
Thank you again for your patience as we worked through this situation and for helping us stop similar incidents in the future.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chuck Epps
