Police put a Sandy Springs school on lockdown Thursday after they received threats from a convicted murderer against a child who attends the school.
Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik broke the news on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
Police told Petchenik that they believe the threats may have been made by Anthony Tyrone Terrell, a convicted murderer serving two life sentences for killing his mother and two half-sisters in 2008. Terrell's mother, Joy Deleston, was a Gwinnett County sheriff's deputy.
Terrell is the father of a child who attends Ison Springs Elementary School, according to police.
The child’s mother told police that she received an email from her own account around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. She says the email threatened to kill her and their daughter.
Police said the woman immediately called the school, which went into lockdown.
Several police officers were at the school as they investigated and made sure everyone was safe. An external lockdown remained in place until school let out at 2:20 p.m.
Parents said they didn’t know what was going on at the time.
“They just said it was a domestic disturbance. They didn’t specify what it was, or who it was. But they called after the fact, which I panicked,” said parent Mercedes Lewis.
Lewis thinks the school made the right call.
“You just never know. Even though he is incarcerated, you don’t know who he’s connected to locally,” said parent Deone D’Alessio.
Police said because the emails were sent from the mother's own email account, it will make it difficult to charge Terrell or prove his involvement.
WSBTV
