Sadie Tillis Elementary was placed on lockdown after online threats were made

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Social media threats to shoot up and blow-up Sadie Tillis Elementary School forced the school to go on lockdown this morning.

Before authorities arrested the suspect, Duval County Public School said they made the threats.

“I would say it was a credible threat,” DCPS Police Chief Greg Burton said.

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These online threats had parents, students and school staff very worried this morning. Parents woke up to an email from Duval County Public Schools asking them not to come to school because of the online threats.

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.”

Folvess Stewart has a 7-year-old grandson named Isiah, he’s a 3rd grader at Sadie Tillis.

“He was talking about that’s terrible grandma, there’s a bomb threat at the school,” Stewart said.

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

“For you as his grandma to break that news to him, was he nervous, were you nervous?” Action News Jax Reporter Princess Jhané Stepherson asked.

“Yeah, I was nervous because there’s so many bad things happening,” Stewart said.

Nearly 2 hours later DCPS sent another email to parents and guardians saying quote, “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.

DCPS Police Chief Greg Burton says the suspect is a male who is currently being questioned by JSO alongside the FBI and FDLE.

“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.

“I hope they keep him in there for a while, so he learns to behave himself,” Stewart said.

In a recently released statement by Chief Burton:

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

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