Shooting threat at Whale Branch Middle School deemed ‘non-credible’ and lockdown lifted

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Whale Branch Middle School’s lockdown was lifted after a shooting threat Thursday afternoon was deemed “non-credible,” according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Students are being dismissed as of 4:25 p.m. Thursday, according to Candace Bruder, a spokesperson for the school district. The school’s afternoon activities have been canceled.

As of 4:55 p.m., parents were arriving to the school confused, many unsure of where to pick up their children.

The threat was called in just after 3:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Maj. Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. Investigation revealed that the call to the school originated “from a person outside of our geographic area,” according to an alert sent from the sheriff’s office just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

Police were still at the school as of 4:15 p.m. Children were still in the building as part of their regular school hours when the lockdown began.