‘Playing with a active shooter:’ Man’s threats led to Sadie Tillis Elementary lockdown, police say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax is learning new information about the social media threats that caused Sadie Tillis Elementary School to go on lockdown Thursday morning.

Karl Barr Jr., 30, was arrested and charged with sending written threat to commit bodily injury, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

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At 7:45 a.m. Thursday, an officer was made aware that Barr “was livestreaming and making threatening comments regarding Duval Public Schools,” the report said.

Investigators found that a person with the Twitter handle @Kashcrazyworld posted at 2:57 a.m. Thursday, “Duval public schools you playing with a active shooter don’t make me relapse and (expletive) this (expletive) down before I exit the city with a bang (bomb emoji).”

An additional tweet posted at 3:27 a.m. Thursday said, “Hypothetical if I set the school on fire nobody goes to school right? No excuses right? I’m talking 4am before people get there not no killing innocent kids I love kids.”

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The same user posted a video from the front of the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, “turning the camera on himself and showing part of a face and tattoos on a right arm.”

JSO took Barr into custody in front of the Veterans Memorial Arena.

Sadie Tillis Elementary School parents woke up to an email from Duval County Public Schools Thursday morning asking them not to come to school because of the online threats.

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At 6 a.m. today the FBI got a tip about threats being made towards Sadie Tillis Elementary. An hour later at 7 a.m., DCPS sent us an email they forwarded to Sadie Tillis parents and guardians – it reads quote, “because of a social media threat, Sadie Tillis Elementary is on lockdown.”

Students who get driven or walk to school like were advised to stay home until Sadie Tillis was declared safe. Those en route to the school were taken to Westside Middle School 3 miles up the road.

Nearly 2 hours later, DCPS sent another email to parents and guardians saying, “Good news. The suspect is in custody, and we are in the process of re-opening Sadie Tillis.”

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All students, faculty and staff resumed what should have been a normal day in the classroom at 9:30 a.m.

Duval County School Police Chief Greg Burton said Thursday that Barr was being questioned by JSO alongside the FBI and FDLE.

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“If you are out there and you plan to make a threat to our schools, students or administrators we will take that threat seriously and ask the state attorney to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Burton said.

Burton sent the following message to parents on Thursday night:

Hello Team Duval families,

This is School Police Chief Greg Burton,

This morning, we became aware of a tip from the FBI that an individual had posted a threat against one of our schools.

This morning, that individual was taken into custody and arrested.

There are two lessons we want our school community to gain from this incident.

First, we take threats against our students, our staff, and our schools extremely seriously. We will work closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement to identify and capture the individuals responsible for making the threat and we will work with our state attorney to ensure the individual is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Secondly, please know that one of our greatest weapons against threats is you. You are our eyes and ears in the community. If you see something, please say something. You can report any threats through the Fortify Florida app.

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our schools safe!

—  DCPS Police Chief Greg Burton

FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks released the following statement about the investigation:

Cooperation from the public is one of the FBI’s best allies in preventing, detecting, and deterring crime. We take each and every potential threat seriously and, as we did in this case, act swiftly in coordination with our local, state, and federal partners to help protect innocent lives. You can help the FBI and our partners keep the community safe by remaining vigilant and promptly reporting all threatening and suspicious activities to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or local law enforcement immediately.

—  FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks

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