According to Police Chief James Godfrey on Friday, August 24 officers of the Baxley Police Department met with the school resource officer (S.R.O.) at the Appling County High School in reference to a threat. On arrival the S.R.O. told officers that two students had told him of a threat that was sent to them on their Facebook page, and that the sender told them to stay away from school on Monday, because he was going to shoot it up.
Officers interviewed several students and conducted an investigation. Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation assisted in investigating the computer trail to find the origin of the message that was sent over Facebook. Officers searched and conducted several field interviews and ran down several leads, but were unable to locate anyone matching the description of the sender.
Law enforcement met with school officials and set up a coordinated effort to provide security at the high school for Monday and throughout the week while the investigation was ongoing.
While officers were conducting security it was brought to their attention that a juvenile, age 15, had made a threat that he was going to make a bomb threat so they wouldn’t have school Tuesday. As a result of an investigation, a 15-year-old juvenile was arrested on charges of one-count terroristic threats and was released to the juvenile authorities for further judicial proceedings.
Then on Aug. 29 officers of the Baxley Police Department, Appling County Sheriff’s Office and the GA Bureau of Investigation made an arrest in connection with the August 24 threat that was directed toward the Appling County High School. Arrested was Keaton Xavier Nelson, age 19, of a Surrency address, on charges of one count terroristic threats and acts, which shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years or by a fine not to exceed $100,000.00 or both.