On 04/25/2018 just before 11:00 pm the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a threat of violence against Washington High School. The reporting person located the threat on his Facebook newsfeed and contacted the Sheriff’s Office. The post is believed to have originated on Instagram. According to the post a school shooting was to take place the next day. Sheriff Ernie Coleman was notified and ordered Deputies to work through the night to verify or disprove the threat. After the initial report Beaufort County Emergency Communications received numerous calls from concerned citizens inquiring about the threat and the Sheriff’s Office response. In an abundance of caution and in addition to the assigned School Resource Officer, the Sheriff’s Office increased the Law Enforcement presence at the school.
Before 8:30 this morning Beaufort County Sheriff’s School Resource Officers had identified and located the suspect. The juvenile suspect’s phone was seized as evidence and the suspect received immediate disciplinary action from the school. The suspect was also taken into custody and charged by Sergeant Walt Zerniak with one count of felony Making a False Report Concerning Mass Violence on Educational Property and ordered held by a Judge in the Pitt Juvenile Detention Facility.
