Early Monday morning The News-Banner received the following statement from the Appling County School System:
“School personnel for the Appling County School System received information on Friday afternoon that there could be a potential threat of weapons being brought to the Appling County High School. Law enforcement was notified immediately and the local authorities have been working diligently with the school system. Heightened security and other appropriate measures have been implemented to protect all students and staff in Appling County Schools.”
The school system and law enforcement are to be commended for considering this potential threat a serious one. In this day and time we can’t afford to sit idly by and not take any threat serious.
Consider the recent Aurora Movie Theatre (Colorado) where an accused 23-year-old gunman shot and killed 12 and injured 58. Or who could ever forget Columbine High School, near Littleton, Colorado, where in 1999 students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered thirteen people on the school campus before they committed suicide? There were also 24 others wounded in the Columbine shooting. Since 2000 there have been 170 deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.
These are examples of the type of violence that can transpire in a blink of an eye. The heartbreaking part is that many of us take for granted that schools or public places, such as theatres, should be places that we feel safe. It is the hope of this newspaper, as it should be for every citizen, that the person responsible for the events that unfolded Monday will be found and brought to justice by law enforcement very soon.
-Jamie Gardner