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Goochland high, middle schools closed Friday after threat led to lockdown, sweep of schools

Administrators: 'No weapons or contraband recovered during the searches of all classes'
Posted at 12:09 PM, May 11, 2023
and last updated 2023-05-11 18:18:54-04

GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. -- Goochland High School and Goochland Middle School will be closed Friday after a "threatening text message" sent to the high school prompted a lockdown and sweeps of classrooms Thursday, officials with the school system posted on social media.

"Thank you to our students, staff, parents, Sheriff's Office, and County partners for all of their support as we worked through the challenges of today's safety incident," administrators wrote just before 5 p.m. "If your student needs mental health support, the Community Services Board is open from 8:30 to 5:00 tomorrow for walk-in appointments."

Officials said that all after-school activities postponed Thursday, but that weekend events would still take place as scheduled.

Administrators said more details from the school division and law enforcement would likely come Friday.

"To answer any questions or rumors, there have been no weapons or contraband recovered during the searches of all classes today. We anticipate resuming operations with lunch and dismissal at the normal time shortly," administrators wrote at 2:15 p.m.

Interim Superintendent Andy Armstrong said that no weapons were found anywhere on campus, including the parking lot.

Armstrong said it was unclear if a student was responsible for the text threat, which was sent to the high school Thursday morning.

That threat led to a heavy law enforcement presence at the schools. And while there was "no active situation," officials posted around 11:30 a.m., the language in the text led the schools to lockdown during the investigation.

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"Please be advised that there is no active threat at this time," deputies with the Goochland County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook just after 12:45 p.m.

"We are working to conduct safety scans in each classroom with our Sheriff’s Office in order to resume normal operations once we have determined that there is no threat on our campus," Armstrong wrote in a noon email. "We continue to follow up on leads and if any student or family has any information please let me know or utilize our anonymous reporting system that can be found on our school website."

Officials said sweeps of the high school were being still in the process of being completed as of 2 p.m.

"Middle school will be complete momentarily and will also be provided lunches," officials wrote. "Senior early release students will be allowed to leave at normal time once Sheriff's Office has cleared the building and we plan to dismiss students for the day at the normal 3:30 dismissal time for GMS and GHS."

Additionally, Goochland Elementary School was in a hold (all students inside) due to the proximity to the middle and high school.

"Thank you to our students, staff, parents, Sheriff's Office, and County partners for all of their support as we worked through the challenges of today's safety incident," officials later wrote.

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Text threat prompts a lock down at Goochland High School on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.

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