The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has taken a Good Hope student into custody in connection to a threat made on a social media outlet early last week.

According to Chief Deputy Max Bartlett at the CCSO, a juvenile was arrested this morning after there was sufficient evidence to charge the individual with making a terrorist threat, a class C felony.

“Anything on social media sites has a IP address,” Bartlett said. “We identified that to find the owner of the device.”

There are approximately 800 students in the Good Hope school district who did not attend school today. A lion’s share of those students were kept home by the fear of the threat made on Yik Yak, which targeted Tuesday as “something that Good Hope won’t ever forget.”

Bartlett added that the apprehension of and the interview with the suspect went smoothly, and the student was “remorseful for what was done.”

“This is a very serious threat, even if it is a joke,” he said. “I want to express to students considering this that this is very serious.”

Alongside safety issues, the chief deputy also cited many hours of sheriff’s office manpower as a consequence of this threat.

“I congratulate our investigation staff and our SRO staff,” he said. “I just can’t say enough about our staff. I also appreciate Dr. Ross and the school system for working together with us.”

Because the student is a juvenile, no additional information is being released at this time.

The investigation is still open, and the Cullman County school system is awaiting the dismissal of a potential threat by the CCSO.

“This is still ongoing,” Good Hope High School Assistant Principal Houston Blackwood said. “We haven’t quite reached the final moment. The sheriff’s office has done the best job coordinating and communicating with us.”

> Zach Winslett may be contacted at zwinslett@cullmantimes.com or (256) 734-2131, ext. 137.