ABC 17 News confirms arrest in Fulton school threat
UPDATE 8/31: ABC 17 News checked with Fulton police Wednesday and confirmed they arrested Courtney Reid, 37, of Jefferson City, in connection to a threat made toward a Fulton school Monday.
Reid was taken into custody Wednesday morning for domestic assault, making a terrorist threat and six counts of violating a restraining order.
Investigators believe Reid continued to threaten the mother of his two children in Fulton through text and social media, despite the court order banning him from contact with them. She had filed for the restraint because she claims Reid made numerous physical threats against her in the past few weeks.
On Monday Fulton schools had several anonymous calls claiming someone with a gun was coming to see his kids. Officials then developed Reid as a possible suspect.
UPDATE 8/30: Fulton Police say they will continue to monitor Fulton schools Tuesday. They say they will continue to monitor the schools over the next two days.
Police say they still have not found the man responsible for Monday’s threat. They say they are actively pursuing him, but say they do not believe he is in the area.
Fulton school officials tell ABC 17 News Fulton Middle School and Bush Elementary are not on lock down Tuesday and said school operation are back to normal.
UPDATE, 5:21 p.m.: The Fulton Police Department confirmed it received a call from Fulton Middle School just before 11 a.m. Monday morning in reference to a man allegedly coming to the school and armed with a gun
The school said the call they received was anonymous. Police confirmed this was a continuation of a domestic situation from the weekend and that the parent referenced lives in Jefferson City.
The Fulton School District immediately implemented their emergency procedure and locked down the middle school building. As a precaution, the elementary school was also placed on lock down due to a younger sibling being there.
According to police, all public school buildings were notified and went into a limited lock down situation. Private schools were also contacted as a precaution.
Police say students were never in danger, and the lock downs were “purely a precautionary measure.”
The buildings were back to normal operations by 2:00 p.m.
The Callaway County Sheriff’s department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol assisted with the situation.
UPDATE 2:23 p.m.: Fulton school officials justsent outan email saying school will be released at normal times with significant police presence. All evening activities for the middle school are also cancelled due to the inability to have extra law enforcement available.
Officials say the perpetrator of the threat has not been found,butlaw enforcement officials don’t believe that person of interest is in the Fulton area.
In an email sent to parents, school officials said they areoptimistic the district will return to normal on Tuesday.
ORIGINAL: ABC 17 News confirmed Fulton Middle School and Bush Elementary were put on lockdown around 11 a.m. Monday, for a possible threat involving a parent.
The Callaway County sheriff’s office has several deputies helping Fulton police, who could not release any information at this point.
The district also tells ABC 17 News other schools were advised to keep their students inside as well.
Our ABC 17 news crews spoke to aparent who is waiting at a park near Bush Elementary. The parent apparently came to try to pick her kid up and the school wouldn’t let her. The woman says school officials instructed her to wait at the park.
ABC 17 News is seeing reports that the threat came from a parent of a student, but authorities have not confirmed that yet.
Our crews say law enforcement at Bush Elementary is equipped with guns.
Our reporters says a sign is posted on the front door of the middle school that says,”FMS is currently on lockdown. No students are allowed to enter or leave.”
ABC 17 News has a reporter on the scene to find out more details.
