Social media posts bring out deputies

    Some social media posts, the week before Christmas, brought extra deputies to the county’s schools just before Christmas break. At least one principal, Tim Overstreet, principal of Liberty High School, sent a letter to the parents of the students on Dec. 21, explaining what was going on.
    “We worked on that just about all week,” commented Major Ricky Gardner of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office.
    Maj. Gardner said that the Sheriff’s Office got information about the posts and assigned investigators who visited the homes of the students who made the posts, talking to them and their parents. Maj. Gardner said that the posts didn’t appear to be actual threats.
    “They were more ramblings,” he said.
    However, Maj. Gardner said the ramblings hinted at violence, so the investigators warned the students that such posts were inappropriate — the social media equivalent of shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. The students were also informed that they were now on the investigators’ “radar.”        Maj. Gardner said that, although the investigation determined that there was no real threat, the Sheriff’s Office decided not to take anything for granted in light of the recent school shooting in Connecticut.
    “We had just about every school in Bedford County covered by a deputy,” he said.