Full Notification

There was a brief modified lockdown from 1:30 to 1:45 p.m. at the Hilton Head Island Middle School today, after students were overheard talking about passing around a gun. School administrators accompanied by School Resource Officers and additional Sheriff's Office deputies, who were already on campus, searched the affected area of the school and the students' lockers and property. There was no gun or any other type of weapon found. The incident is still under investigation.

In regards to the false information posted on Facebook earlier today about the "possible shooter" at the Hilton Head Island Middle School, Sheriff's Office investigators were able to identify, locate and interview the subject responsible. The subject advised that they assumed there was a "possible shooter" and posted it on Facebook, after a family member told them about the increased law enforcement presence on campus; information that had been widely distributed yesterday by the School District and Sheriff's Office following the threat written on the bathroom wall. As of this afternoon, the subject, who posted the false information on Facebook, had not been criminally charged. It remains an active investigation.