Metro Atlanta families react to ongoing threats, hoaxes after Apalachee school shooting

ATLANTA — In the week and a half since the horrific shooting at Apalachee High School, dozens of students have been arrested for making threats throughout Georgia, and there have been at least two incidents of guns being brought onto a Georgia school’s ground.

Friday, authorities arrested a Duluth middle school student for bringing a loaded 9mm handgun in his backpack. The same day, APS announced an employee at Sarah Smith Elementary had a firearm in their possession on school grounds.

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Last week, Channel 2 Action News reported that there had been at least 20 people arrested for making threats towards schools. That number has sadly grown. Gwinnett County says 16 people have been arrested for making threats in their county alone.

The combination of the shootings, threats, and guns has been difficult for metro Atlanta parents.

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The combination of the shootings, threats, and guns has been difficult for metro Atlanta parents.

“It’s terrifying because my kids are going to have to go to those schools,” Mykal Griscom told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna.

Griscom’s son is a third grader in the Fulton County School District.

She says it’s been stressful dropping him off at school ever since a shooting at Apalachee claimed the lives of four people.

“You know, you take it day by day. But it’s an underlying thought in the back of your mind. Is something going to go wrong today?” Griscom said.

Griscom says she’s had conversations with her son about potential dangers while trying to make him afraid. She also says she has been appreciative that her son’s elementary school increased communication and police presence.

“There is a police officer who has been there every day since last week and that’s been an amazing sense of relief,” Griscom told Channel 2 Action News.

However, she hopes there will soon be a stop to the number of threats on social media and that she can feel safe with her son at school.

“It’s really sad that all this is happening, and we really need it to stop,” Griscom said.

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