Safety precautions taken at 2 local schools Monday after potential threats

Safety precautions were taken at two  local schools Monday after the possibility of threats on their campuses.

At Hillcrest High School, investigators said a rumor began circulating over the weekend suggesting a student was bringing a gun to school Monday.

“The school board received information of rumors of a gun showing up at Hillcrest High School this morning,” said Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Judd.

Families received an automated phone call about increased security on campus today.

“At (the school’s) request, we provided additional security through deputies being in and out and around the school this morning while school started and throughout the day,” Judd said.

After a thorough investigation, TCSO determined there was no truth to the threat.

“No matter what type of threat that comes in, if there are rumors of a gun or knife or potential fight, we treat them all the same and do our best to research them and investigate them to their fullest,” Judd said. “In this case so far, it’s just found to be rumors.”

The same day, Northridge Middle School was placed on heightened awareness after administration was notified of potential safety concerns stemming from a text thread including possible threats.

“It really was just that is conversation about a threat,” said Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Mike Daria. “There was no specific threat made that we could determine for Northridge Middle School. The principal worked with TPD and went on heightened alert and conducted an investigation.”

That situation also turned out to be a false alarm.

“We just had a few parents who heard their students talking about it and again that goes to the importance of see something say something,” Daria said. “If you know of something let us know. We will give it a full investigation.”

Daria said there’s no such thing as a small threat.

“Any threat, be it real, be it a joke, be it a prank, anything like that will be taken as seriously as a real threat,” he said. “We’ve had incidents where pranks have been made and we do not respond with a response for a prank. We treat it as the real thing, and we will not take it lightly.”

Both schools received an all-clear Monday, and will return to normal operations Tuesday.