Nonprofit shares concerns after 988 chatline used to make threat against Wilson County school
WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Wednesday night, Wilson County’s director of schools acknowledged that a school lockdown in Watertown last month happened because of a threat made on a suicide prevention chatline.
Nearly three weeks into the new year, schools in the Watertown area went into lockdown on Aug. 22 after a threat was made to Watertown Elementary.
“It was alarming to our students, our families,” Wilson County Director of Schools Jeff Luttrell said on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
According to Luttrell, law enforcement responded to Watertown Elementary within minutes of the threat. The town’s high school and middle school also went into lockdown.
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“From the time the call was made, six to seven minutes we were locked down,” Luttrell said.
The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office concluded that the threat was a hoax made through a 988 chatline.
Volunteers answer calls and texts for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for 29 counties across Tennessee. The hotline is available 24/7 to help people in a mental health crisis.
“We have answered a little over 8,600 from August [2023] to July [2024],” said Laura Tedesco with Volunteer Behavioral Health.
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According to Tedesco, the volume of calls has increased 32% from last year. However, when they received a message like the one in Wilson County, she said they immediately called law enforcement.
“For us, that might be that we have one person that’s calling law enforcement while another staff [member] is calling the school so we can make that happen as quickly as possible,” Tedesco explained.
Tedesco said it’s unfortunate that someone took advantage of a lifesaving tool.
“I think that’s sad to use resources in that way, but, of course, we don’t know what’s going on with that person to make them do something like that. I have concerns for that individual,” she told News 2.
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“When you get that call and it’s not a planned drill, it puts it all into perspective,” Luttrell said.
Luttrell also mentioned Wednesday night that gun detection dogs were on scene the day of the hoax calls. The K9s are part of the “Paws on Patrol” program, which is new to Wilson County Schools this year.
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