Pelion, SC (Paul Kirby) – A parent said late Tuesday that Lexington County deputies moved quickly that night to take a young man into custody after he made threats to use a firearm to, “shoot up” Pelion High School. The parent said that more than one student heard about or received these threats and they immediately notified law enforcement. The parent later said that the threats were made on social media and the young suspect tried to cover his tracks using dummy accounts. Sheriff's Department investigators were apparently able to work through the necessary process of tracing the post back to the individual's I.P. address who was then arrested. He has reportedly confessed that he sent the message. A screenshot of what appears to be a Facebook post that says, "I am going to shoot up pelion high school tomorrow," (exactly as sent) was sent to The Lexington Ledger early Wednesday. It was believed to be the actual post made indicating the threat.
Later Tuesday night, deputies confirmed that they had made an arrest. According to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department website, Robert Hunter Jacob Woods, age 18, was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center very early Wednesday morning and charged with making threats against a school. His photograph was released the the LCSD later in the day.
It was never implied that Woods ever took a firearm to school, and in fact, law enforcement has not said if he even had access to firearms at all. That will be a part of the investigation that the Sherriff’s Department will have to determine if they can release later. Those decisions are made on how releasing further information will affect prosecution of the case.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and Lexington School District One have said many times in the past that they take all threats of this nature extremely seriously. No threat is ever considered a joke or a laughing matter and they have worked to educate students on that fact. Law enforcement thoroughly investigated these types of incidents with the full cooperation of the school district and its school safety staff. Appropriate actions are taken if an investigation reveals that threats were actually made. The boy, a student at the school reported to be in the 12th grade, will be subject to the district's discipline policy. That dictates that he was immediately suspended and banned from all schools and district property until an expulsion hearing is scheduled.
h of the young man and more details Wednesday.
