DCHS student found with phone text messages threatening to carry out a school shooting

August 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Another school threat has been discovered unrelated to the one which came to light Thursday night and this time an arrest has been made.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said 18-year-old Austin Ray Light of Maynard Road, Liberty, a student at DeKalb County High School was summoned to the DeKalb County Jail Friday morning where he was charged with reckless threaten act of mass violence-school property/activity. Light is under a $5,000 bond and his General Sessions Court date is September 9.

According to Sheriff Ray,” Late Thursday night, law enforcement received an anonymous tip about a student at DeKalb County High School having messages on a telephone possibly related to violence. Immediately the Chief Deputy and a detective with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office worked throughout the night to investigate the threats. On Friday morning, law enforcement officials arrested Light. Throughout the investigation law enforcement officials found messages in the phone belonging to Light talking about shooting someone due to him being upset over a test,” said Sheriff Ray.

The arrest warrant states that “On or about the 24th day of August, 2023, Austin Ray Light did make a threat of violence while on the property of DeKalb County High School. Light did use text communication stating “I am gonna kill someone, the only reason I showed up today was to do the test, and it was pushed back to tomorrow”. Light did admit to making these threats.

Sheriff Ray stressed that this arrest is unrelated to the incident Thursday night in which two teenage boys in North Carolina phoned in a school shooting threat to a local Dollar General Store as a prank.

August 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The new fiscal year has started off strong in terms of local option sales tax collections in DeKalb County.

According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue, DeKalb County took in $210,447 in local option sales taxes for July 2023 which is up from $196,757 in July 2022.

Collections were also up in three of the four towns in July.

In Smithville, July, 2023 local option sales taxes totaled $422,519 compared to $395,674 in July 2022. Collections for Liberty in July 2023 were $10,528, down from $13,878 collected in July 2022. Dowelltown took in $3,044 in July 2023, up from $2,745 in July 2022. Alexandria saw an increase from $25,218 in July 2022 to $29,741 in July 2023.

Net Collections with the county and cities combined showed a jump in local option sales tax collections in July 2023 to $676,282, up from $634,274 in July 2022.

July sales tax collections reflect previous month activity.

August 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A sigh of relief!

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is now reporting that a school shooting threat, phoned in to a local Dollar General Store Thursday evening, has been determined to have been a hoax committed by two North Carolina teen boys (ages 14 & 15) who were using a cell phone to make random prank calls. The boys apparently had no connection to DeKalb County and made calls to several other places in Tennessee.

According to Chief Deputy Brian Williams, the call to the Dollar General Store on Short Mountain Highway was traced to a phone in Kernersville, North Carolina. The caller asked the clerk if the store carried cap guns (toy guns), stating that he was planning to carry out a mass school shooting. The store reported the call to central dispatch who then contacted the Sheriff’s Department. Other agencies were also notified including Homeland Security. Authorities in Kernersville, North Carolina were alerted as well, and they made contact with the teens and their parents. The boys allegedly admitted to making the prank call together. Although the kids were apparently not taken into custody at the time, the incident remains under investigation.

After learning of the threat Thursday evening, the local school district and law enforcement officers  sent a notice to parents that extra safety precautions would be taken at the schools on Friday.

Director Cripps’ entire statement to parents  was as follows:

“Late in the evening on August 24, the administration of DeKalb County Schools was contacted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department concerning a potential shooting at one of the schools. The call originated out of state and no school was identified as being a potential target.”

“We would like to remind all citizens of DeKalb County that the safety of our students is our utmost concern, and we will continue to be proactive in ensuring all students remain safe. Local law enforcement is currently working with Homeland Security to identify the caller who is believed to be out of state. Additional security measures will be taken by state and local law enforcement throughout the school day”, said Director Cripps.

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