Police presence has increased at Marion County schools this week following a series of social media threats. Marion County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Paul Bloom said the department has allocated additional resources to the schools, including dogs trained to sniff out explosives.
"We have all of those resources that we put into this: aviation that flies over the schools, patrolling. Really, Sheriff [Billy Woods] was not holding back any resources that we have to put towards investigating and protecting these kids," Bloom said.
Attendance at schools in the county has decreased significantly this past week as parents and students have safety concerns. Bloom said it's a "fine line" to balance parents doing their jobs and students learning, and schools trying to reduce stress and resume normal ways of life while also prioritizing safety.
"We know how it is in the hallways. They may hear something, see something. We're just asking them to say something," Bloom said. "Because somebody is going to slip up and mention about these threats that they made, and we will find that person at some point."
He also said it is important that the community continues to take these threats seriously.
The Sheriff's Office is continuing to search for whoever made some of the recent threats, following the arrest of an 18-year-old student at Forest High School.