On August 17, 2022 at approximately 8:48 AM, personnel from Lone Oak Intermediate School called Paducah 911 regarding a suspicious person attempting to open the main door. School employees were familiar with him as he had attended the school in the past. Employees advised him that they were not going to allow him inside and he stated that he was looking for employment or wanting to meet with former teachers of his. The male eventually left the premises.
Deputies from the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office and Officers from the Paducah Police Department immediately responded to the area to attempt to locate the male. He was eventually located and interviewed by Deputies and Officers on the parking lot of a local business. He stated that he was looking for employment and that he believed he had an application pending with McCracken County Schools. McCracken County Schools confirmed with Deputies that he had not applied for any positions with the school system and that he was never employed by the school.
During the interaction with the male and after speaking further with school employees, it was determined that the male had not done anything criminal in nature. The male was barred from all McCracken County Schools while Deputies spoke with him.
In following up further with this incident, Deputies learned that the male had visited several local businesses in the past two days and that he was looking for employment at one of the local businesses. His behavior was described as unusual. Detectives with the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office investigated his Facebook page as well as other investigative avenues as well. Detectives located him again, at his residence in Lone Oak, during the evening of August 17, 2022. Detectives interviewed him as well as his grandmother, who he lives with. During this interaction, Detectives still believed that nothing criminal had occurred.
In order to be completely sure of any decisions made, the MCSO was in contact with prosecutors throughout the day on August 17, 2022. During consultation with the prosecutor, it was also determined that no criminal acts occurred and no law enforcement action could be taken. It is believed that there is an underlying mental health issue.
In a separate incident, the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by McCracken County Schools regarding a student’s behavior on a school bus. This occurred on August 17, 2022 at approximately 4:00 PM and Deputies and Detectives investigated this incident as well.
The investigation showed that a male juvenile high school student was in a verbal altercation with another student on a McCracken County School bus. The male juvenile student made statements regarding bringing a knife and a gun to McCracken County High School on Friday. These statements obviously caused alarm to the other students on the bus who began to be fearful of the juvenile male.
The male juvenile student was interviewed and he denied ever intending to cause harm to anyone or to bring any weapons to a school. The male juvenile who made the statements was taken into custody by detectives and was lodged in the McCracken County Juvenile Detention Facility. He was charged with Terroristic Threatening 2nd Degree.
The safety of our children and our schools are a top priority for both the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office and the McCracken County Schools. During these incidents, employees from the school system and the MCSO were in constant contact with each other. The MCSO would like to thank the McCracken County Schools for their assistance as well as for their procedures that prevented the former student from entering Lone Oak Intermediate School.