Threats at schools in Gwinnett County keep parents, kids on edge

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Shanee Hunt said a threat posted overnight on Snapchat caught the attention of scores of Grayson High students overnight. The language was so foul and menacing, she kept her 15-year-old freshman home Tuesday.

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“It's just too close to home. And too soon. With Parkland on our minds, plus this is the ninth threat and Gwinnett County schools in two weeks. It just seems like it is never-ending,” the Gwinnett County mother said.

The Gwinnett County mother pointed to another post diagramming another potential threat at a different Gwinnett County school and said she understands why parents and students are on edge.

"You just never know. And with these threats, you just don't want to be the parent who gets that call," Hunt added.

Tuesday morning, the principal of Grayson High School sent an electronic message to parents indicating there was no evidence of a serious threat to the school. But he also made it clear authorities took the threat and student safety very seriously.

Hunt told FOX 5's Portia Bruner the increased presence of Gwinnett County School resource officers and Gwinnett County Police officers made her feel much more comfortable sending her daughter back to school on Wednesday.

“I felt like the entire Gwinnett County Police Department was here at the school. If they weren't at the school, they were surrounding the school, so, I can tell everyone is taking this seriously,” Hunt said.

It's not clear exactly how many students did not attend class at Grayson High School Tuesday, but a school spokesman said it was only a small fraction of students from the population of 2,500.

"If more than 10 percent of the students don't show up on any given day, we get an alert here at Central headquarters and that did not happen today," said spokesman Bernard Watson.

RELATED: Officials: Group falsely accused student of planning violent act at high school

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Grayson High School is not the only school receiving threats in Gwinnett County. Peachtree Ridge High School officials said a group of students tried a pin the fake threat on another student. FOX 5 News was told the school will take disciplinary action against all of the students involved, but several students and parents thought the threat was real and pulled their kids out of school today

This all started Tuesday morning when a threat appeared on Instagram and Snapchat. It contained plans and a picture of a student. Turns out, that student had nothing to do with the supposed threat. School police tracked down the perpetrators, but the damage had already been done.

Jordan Chung was working inside the school office when parents began arriving.

“Teachers couldn't teach the kids because we're barging in the classrooms saying their parents were here to pick them up. Because we had 10 to 15 people dispensing passes to different kids,” said Chung, a senior.

Principal Jeff Mathews issued a letter to parents explaining the events that unfolded and how it will not be tolerated. He ended the letter stating:

“There is a responsibility that goes along with using social media and students should know that if they misuse social media and it creates a disruption at school that they can and will face discipline consequences at school.”

At this time, it's unknown if the students will face criminal charges.