All campuses of the Newton County School District were placed on lockdown this morning after school officials received information on a suspicious social media post.
The lockdown was made in connection with a social media post that said an escaped inmate from Clarke County was in Newton County, according to Sheriff Joedy Pennington. Following a search of the campuses, they cleared the campuses to resume normal operations.
"This morning a post was made on social media stating that one of the escaped inmates from Clarke County was in Decatur and on one of schools property. The Newton County Sheriff‘s office, Newton County schools Police Department, Decatur Police Department and East Central Community College Police Department, conducted a search of all school grounds in Decatur. The escaped inmate was not there. All schools have come off of lockdown and have resumed normal classes," Pennington said in a Facebook post Monday.
Newton County School Superintendent J.O. Amis made the following statement:
This morning, authorities responded to a Social Media post as a precautionary measure. During this time, all campuses were placed on lockdown.
After a thorough sweep, the campuses have been cleared to resume a normal school schedule.
The Newton County School District remains vigilant to keep our students and staff safe. We appreciate our emergency agencies assisting us with professionalism.
