Macon County Schools placed on lockdown due to blown transformer mistaken for gunfire

MACON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Macon School District enforced a lockdown on all schools Monday morning.

According to the Macon County School District, the lockdown was issued due to “suspected gunfire in close proximity to one of Macon County Schools.”

Just minutes later, the school district took to social media to announce that an investigation revealed that the “suspected gunfire” was actually a high voltage transformer that blew in the area.

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All Macon County Schools have now resumed to their daily schedule, according to school officials.

“We understand that this has been very stressful but we have to respond to every possible threat immediately. The safety of your children and our staff is the most important thing to us,” wrote the district.

The Macon County Sheriff’s Office also took to social media to provide an update on the Monday morning incident.

“Firstly, all Schools, students and staff are safe. The SRO at Central Elementary School reported that staff heard what they felt were gunshots. The school was immediately put on a lock down. Quickly followed by all of the schools. The Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department and other agencies responded to secure the School and search the area. It has been confirmed that a transformer exploded on a near by street,” said the sheriff’s office.

The lockdown comes on the heels of false school threats that were made to school districts across Middle Tennessee , including Macon County.

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Just last week, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office took to Facebook to address the threats stating, “We have been made aware of a post on social media going around making threats to schools. This is not from Tennessee. However, out of an abundance of caution. We along with the Macon County School District will be taking precautions. The list of schools on the post is part of a list from Georgia that shows their title 1 schools that receive federal grant money.”

On Thursday, authorities announced that Macon County deputies and detectives identified a local juvenile suspect, who now has pending charges and is banned from school.

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