The Noxapater Attendance Center went into a lockdown this morning, Thursday, November 19, after a student brought a series of threatening text messages to the attention of school officials. Principal Chet Wilkes informed WinstonWebNews that a high school student had received text messages from an adult individual who threatened her life and that of another student. He also threatened to “shoot the school” in at least one of the messages.Wilkes indicated that the Winston County Sheriff’s Department was immediately contacted and the school went into a lockdown around 9:45 am. Wilkes indicated that the lockdown did not disrupt the normal schedule of the school and classes continued as normal. Outside doors were locked and Sheriff deputies remained on the property until the suspect was apprehended around 12:45. The lockdown ended before 1:00 pm . There was no evidence that the suspect was ever on or near the campus during the incident. He was taken into custody by Philadelphia Police.
Parents of students were contacted through the District’s AIMS system and provided information on events at the school.
The suspect in the case, Regionate “Reggie” Sanquez Triplett is a 22 year old resident of Philadelphia and is being held by law enforcement in Neshoba County. Sheriff Pugh indicated that Triplett faces 2 charges of Cyber Stalking and the District Attorney is in the process of reviewing other possible charges in the case. Triplett is also being held pending additional charges in Neshoba County.
Principal Wilkes wanted to take the opportunity to thank the Winston County Sheriff Department and deputies for their prompt response and assistance.
LMSD Superintendent Ken McMullan stated, “We followed our protocol in these situations and performed a lockdown. We are appreciative of the support of Sheriff Pugh and the Philadelphia Police Department. Our security officer worked well with local law enforcement and we will continue to monitor the situation.
As is often the case in these types of events, rumors flourish. Rumors of threats against the basketball team and other students are unfounded. wwm.
