A Dyer County Schools student is in custody after allegedly making a threat against Dyer County High School, with the district saying a security sweep of the campus turned up nothing of concern. The threat came in Thursday evening, and families are being told to expect a heavier law enforcement footprint at the school on Friday as a precaution.
According to Action News 5, Dyer County Schools received the threat around 5 p.m. Thursday and immediately notified school resource officers and law enforcement. Several agencies then conducted a specialized sweep of Dyer County High School and found no security issues, the district said, according to FOX13 Memphis.
Dyer County Director of Schools Cheryl Mathis said student and staff safety is always the top priority, and she thanked the school resource officer and every agency that responded that night, per FOX13's reporting. Mathis said she anticipated a safe and wonderful Friday at school, with the district describing the added law enforcement presence as standard procedure rather than a response to any new danger.
Sheriff Points to Tip That Led to Arrest
Dyer County Sheriff Grant Montgomery said he was grateful for the quick response from partner agencies and for the person who came forward with the information that led investigators to the student. The station's report quotes Montgomery saying he is also grateful to the person who came forward with this information. He added that every threat is taken seriously and investigated thoroughly, and that threats like this will not be allowed to disrupt the schools, according to FOX13's account.
The sheriff's office said the investigation remains ongoing, the same report notes. Law enforcement officers are expected to be present throughout the school day Friday, and the district has framed that visibility as one of several precautions taken to keep students, faculty, and staff safe.
Not the First Threat Reported at DCHS
Dyer County High School has weathered threat scares before. In a separate incident, officials were alerted to an anonymous social media post referencing a school shooting at the campus, and then-Sheriff Jeff Box said the suspect taken into custody in that case was not believed to be connected to the post, with the weapon seen in an accompanying Snapchat video determined to be fake, per the State Gazette.
In another earlier case, the Dyer County Sheriff's Office said an anonymous tip received in late March 2024 alleging a student had used threatening language was ultimately determined to be false after an investigation that included a review of cell phone data, Radio NWTN reported at the time. A separate, undated statement posted to the Dyer County High School live feed said law enforcement determined that a perceived threat had nothing to do with the school system, though it is not established whether that update refers to Thursday's incident.
Part of a Statewide Pattern of School Threats
The Dyer County case lands amid what researchers describe as a sharp rise in school threat cases across Tennessee. Records obtained by WPLN showed at least 519 students were charged with threats of mass violence in one recent school year, up from 442 the year before. The same report found Hamilton County arrested 18 students in just the first six weeks of a school year, more than twice as many as Nashville's Davidson County despite having far fewer students.
Earlier this year, the FBI's Nashville office said it had been seeing an increase in swatting events across the country, according to WSMV. That wave of reported threats in May prompted the FBI to investigate alongside the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies, as school systems statewide began lifting lockdowns once authorities concluded the threats were hoaxes or swatting incidents. Jackson Central-Merry was among the schools placed on lockdown that day after a 911 call alleged violence and a bomb threat, though no violence or injuries had been reported by mid-morning.
For now, Dyer County officials have not released details about the student's identity, age, or any charges, and the outcome of the ongoing investigation has not been announced.
