KSP News Conference regarding school threat investigation
Posted by Kentucky State Police on Friday, October 19, 2018
“There’s no doubt in my mind that as a result of this investigation, we saved lives,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said during the press conference. “This young man had it in his mind to go to schools and create havoc.
“He had the tools necessary, the intent necessary. And the only thing that stood between him and evil … is law enforcement,” he added.
In searching Jarrell’s home, police found an internet search history on “How to conduct a school shooting,” and a “credible and imminent threat to Shelby and Anderson County schools.” Investigators also revealed that in May, Jarrell had been questioned by the FBI following social media threats toward a Tennessee School.
Jarrell was charged with two counts of second-degree terroristic threatening and one count of harassing communications and is being held in the Shelby County Detention Center.
Bull had no way of knowing when she reported Jarrell that she was protecting more than just her own kids.
“I would hope that someone would, in the same situation, just do the same thing. Because, obviously, you never know. It could be an idle threat or it could be the next mass shooter,” Bull said. “It’s our future. These kids are our future, my kids, the kids of Lawrenceburg and Anderson County, and we have to give them a fighting shot.”
In the week since reporting the message, Bull has been praised by families all over the country who say the timing of her tip and Jarrell’s arrest was “divine intervention.”
She encourages other people to take social media messages seriously, and report any concerning dialogue immediately.
“That one-in-a-million call could prevent a tragedy,” she says.
