Arrest made in "act of terrorism" in relation to the phone calls made to Loretto High School.

On August 9, 2016, authorities with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department were notified of a threat which had been phoned into Loretto High School. The caller stated they were coming to the high school to kill someone.

The School Resource Officer immediately began working with the school administration to begin procedures to ensure the safety of the students and staff. A short time later the caller contacted the school again and gave a time limit as to when the action would take place.

At this point, administrators with the Lawrence County Board of Education placed all schools on lockdown procedures until the threat could be thoroughly investigated. Investigators were able to obtain a number of interest from the school system IT department.

An investigation into the matter continued throughout the day and a suspect, Tymothy Blaze Willis (18), was arrested on unrelated warrants for violation of probation, failure to appear, and resisting arrest.

On August 10, 2016, enough evidence was gathered to obtain a warrant for Tymothy Blaze Willis for committing an act of terrorism in relation to the phone calls made to Loretto High School.

Tymothy Blaze Willis is currently being held in the Lawrence County Detention Center with a cumulative bond of $110,931.00.

He is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on September 6, 2016.