Catoosa County, Ga., Sheriff Gary SiskLakeview Middle School in Rossville, Ga., was put on a precautionary lockdown Wednesday when a man threatened to kill himself nearby, Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said.
The man barricaded himself in his house with a pistol and a rifle, Sisk said. Deputies responded between 8 and 9 a.m. Wednesday. The school was placed on lockdown out of an “abundance of caution,” said Marissa Brower, Catoosa County Schools public information specialist.
The man’s house is located less than 1,000 feet from the school.
Everything inside the school proceeded normally during the ‘soft’ lockdown, Brower said. A soft lockdown simply means that the outside doors to the school are locked and students are not allowed to go outside.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with the school, nobody has made any threats to the school,” Brower said.
Parents were informed of the lockdown by text message.
The lockdown was lifted at 1:30 p.m. after the man turned himself in. He was charged with two counts of making terroristic threats.
The man’s wife also was arrested and charged with obstruction, Sisk said.