UNION COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Social media posts directed at an elementary school in Union County have left parents concerned.
The sheriff said he and other officers received numerous phone calls and complaints from worried parents Tuesday morning.
It was in reference to Facebook posts suggesting students at Monarch Elementary School were unsafe.
Union County Sheriff Jeff Bailey said they immediately investigated the concerning social media posts.
“Talking about kids and watching kids and waving at kids and loving kids,” said Sheriff Bailey.
He said phones were ringing off the hook Tuesday morning.
“We checked all that out this morning, it caused a big uproar in Union, really, because, you know, parents are worried about their kids,” he said.
They looked into the profile of the person allegedly making the posts.
“We come to find out that he didn’t make those posts. So, we’re dealing with another situation now,” said the sheriff.
Bailey said it stemmed from a conflict between two people. Around noon Tuesday, he said they found out who was behind the account.
“Who had actually created a fake account and posted these posts stating this about kids and all that. In order to try incriminate somebody else,” said Sheriff Bailey.
School officials told 7NEWS that nothing happened inside the school and there is no threat.
Sheriff Bailey had a message for worried parents and guardians.
“The children are safe, all these school resource officers are great. They take care of those kids, and they can rest assured that we’re going to be there,” he said.
He said they have a lot of steps in place to protect the children in the county.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that they are taken care of, in all our schools,” said Sheriff Bailey,
He said parents can rest assured because the situation is being handled. He said the next step is to speak to the solicitor to see about any charges. This is still an active investigation.
