At least eight Georgia counties confirm mass shooting hoax; others on alert despite no threat

Police responded to Savannah High School this morning after what appears to have been a hoax threat, but other nearby school districts also received threats. Those that did not heightened security.

No state or federal agencies have been able to confirm the total number of threats yet, although at least four school districts confirmed threats and over a dozen school districts may have received threats.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is "aware of reports" of the incidents, according to Nelly Miles, director of the public and governmental affairs for GBI.

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"At this point, the GBI is on standby with investigative teams ready to assist," Miles wrote in an email. "GISAC (state fusion center) is also working closely with federal agencies to monitor activity.

Governor Brian Kemp put out a statement a little before noon on the string of calls, referring to "multiple coastal counties" but not listing which counties were involved.

"Rest assured, for the criminals who orchestrated these hoaxes, we will go after them with every single resource available," the statement read. "The FBI is actively investigating these acts of domestic terrorism, and we will continue to diligently work with them to see these culprits are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The FBI did not have a full count of incidents, but said it is on standby to help local agencies.

"FBI Atlanta is aware of the threats and is working with local law enforcement," said Tony Thomas, a public affairs specialist with the FBI. "As always, the FBI is providing support for our law enforcement partners in any way needed."

Glynn, Wayne and Richmond counties has similar active shooter hoax as Savannah

Brunswick High School in Glynn County went into a lockdown after receiving reports of a possible threat, but about 10:30 a.m. the lockdown was lifted after it was confirmed as a hoax.

"Following an extensive search of Brunswick High by our agency law-enforcement partners, no actual shooter or injuries were discovered at the school," wrote Brittany Dozier, public relations specialist for the district, in a statement. "At this time, it appears to have been a prank call as other school districts in our area have received similar calls. Officers from various agencies will remain at the school until further notice; however, all other schools have returned to normal day-to-day operations."

In a press conference, a spokesperson for Savannah mentioned that Wayne County had also received threats. A statement on the Wayne County School System website Wednesday afternoon confirmed the district received threats and went into a two hour soft lockdown with increased law enforcement presence. Wayne County also had an incomplete list of other counties that received threats, not all of which were accurate.

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There was also a false report at Westside High School in Augusta, Richmond County, that five people had been shot.

No shooting hoax threats in McIntosh, Burke, Bryan and Effingham counties, but authorities increase police presence

McIntosh County, next to Glynn, had an alert on its webpage as of 10:30 a.m.

"Out of an abundance of caution, all McIntosh County Schools are on a soft lockdown due to an incident in Glynn County," it read. "All students and adults are safe in their classrooms. We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information."

Cathy Lane, director or public relations for Liberty County schools, said they had received no threats. "Our schools are operating as normal," she said. "Like all the other schools in the area we're just on a little higher alert."

Images from Savannah: Police respond in force to hoax 911 call at Savannah High School

On Facebook, the Burke County Public School System shared a post from the county Sheriff that they were increasing their presence after reports in other counties, although Burke County had not received any threats directly.

"Our School Resource Officers, Patrol Deputies and SRT Team were all made aware and we have increased our presence at all of our schools within Burke County," the post read. "We will continue to monitor these situations as several of the threats made have been determined to be a hoax."

Jennifer Fleming, PIO for the Bryan County Sheriff's Office, said that they would increase police at schools for the day, but added that the school system had not received any threats today.

"Although the recent events (in Savannah) turned out to be a hoax, we will continue to keep a law enforcement presence at our schools. With that being said, there was never a threat towards Bryan County schools but we wanted to take immediate action to protect our community," she added.

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Effingham County Sheriff's Department PIO Brian Bailey added that their county had also not received any threats to their schools.

"We have not received a call from any of the schools and officers were not dispatched to any of the schools," he said. "The schools that have SROs (school resource officers) were already in place."

This is a developing story. Check back as updates come.

Counties with confirmed hoax reports

• Baldwin County

• Wayne County

• Coffee County 

• Camden County

• Valdosta City Schools

• Glynn County

• Chatham County

• Richmond County

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Shooting Brunswick GA: Mass shooting was hoax, lockdown lifted