GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a tip it received from Florida Fortified that a student posed a threat at Clay High on Wednesday.

“Let me tell you this: we're really early in the investigation, so there's going to be more information that comes out,” said Sheriff Michelle Cook. “We received the Florida Fortified tip that something may happen at Clay High School this morning involving a certain student, so the school went on what's called a “secure.” It's just sort of a lockdown. “Secure” means that instruction still goes on in the school, just the kids are not allowed to walk around the school, so Clay High School went on.”

The sheriff said the agency was interviewing the student who had left for school but returned home. The student has a sibling who attends Bannerman. That student was also absent from school, but out of caution, the school was placed under a “secure” level.

“I want to reassure the citizens of Clay County, a couple of things: No. 1, your kids are safe. We're good this morning,” Cook said. “No. 2, the process of reporting a threat worked perfectly. The response by both the school and the sheriff’s office perfectly worked, and that's how it's supposed to happen. Unfortunately, we’re in a day and age where we have to deal with these threats, and that is unfortunate. But the process we have in place works great, and your kids are safe.”