Amid silence from school district, rumors fly after Laney gunfire

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - After gunfire erupted Monday morning in a restroom at Lucy C. Laney High School, it took nearly two hours for a public release of information by either agency involved.

No one was hurt, but a bullet struck a toilet just before 10 a.m., and at least two students were arrested – one with a gun and the other with a knife, according to authorities.

The police response was clear, with about a dozen patrol cars from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office showing up in front of the school.

But public disclosure was less clear.

Rumors flew over the internet and more conventional grapevine, sending an army of panicked parents to the school on Laney Walker Boulevard.

“A lot of the parents there are very nervous. Everybody is nervous because we’ve been out here for over an hour plus waiting to finally be able to go in and get our kids,” said Jorae Jenkins, whose nephew attends Laney.

When News 12 got there shortly before 11, officers told us no one had been hurt, the situation was contained and the school was on soft lockdown.

We reached out to the Richmond County School System and Richmond County Sheriff’s Office to learn more about the situation as it was unfolding.

But we got no response from the school district, and we heard from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 11:55 a.m., nearly two hours after the incident occurred.

The first public acknowledgment from the school district consisted of letters posted online to parents of students at Laney, A.R. Johnson and Charles T. Walker.

The letters were posted for the public at about 12:10 p.m. on the district’s open records portal, though parents said they got the letter at 11:22 a.m. – earlier than the general public but well after the whole incident began.

At 5:26 p.m., nearly seven and half hours after the initial incident, the district released a recorded statement from the district’s police chief describing the incident.

The rumors throughout the day focused on a gun being fired in a restroom. That turned out to be true.

As did an email reportedly from Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw to teachers at Laney.

The 11:16 a.m. email stated:

“I want to make you aware of an isolated incident that took place at Lucy C. Laney High School this morning. The school istration was notified of possible shots fired in a restroom. The Richmond County school system police officer investigated and determined a toilet in a restroom was struck and located a student with a gun and another student with a knife. No students or staff were injured. Both students will be charged.”

But that information wasn’t for public consumption – it was just for employees.

It was through one of those employees that News 12 got a screen shot of the email, which at the time couldn’t even be verified as authentic.

Ironically, the earliest accurate information about the incident came from an agency not directly involved: Augusta University.

At 10:34 a.m., it sent an alert to the AU community stating that the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office “responded to claims of shots fired” around 10 a.m. at Laney. The alert continued: “Upon arrival it was determined that there was no active threat to the community and surrounding area.”

When we asked Richmond County School District spokeswoman Keisa Gunby about the protocol in notifying the public, she told News 12 we’d have to file an open records request to get that information.

But Richmond County Board of Education President Charlie Walker gave us a rough outline. He said this is what’s supposed to happen in these situations:

• The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office responds to the scene, puts together a “shout point” to gather and confirm information, and handles the situation.
• Parents should be notified first before anyone else.
• The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the rest of the school system is notified.
• If the situation is contained, school should go back to normal the next day.

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