CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bus driver for the Porter Ridge Schools cluster has been arrested in connection with posting a threatening Facebook message early Friday morning. The message targeted Porter Ridge Middle School but disparagingly mentioned several members of the school staff by name as well as “immigrants” living in Suburban Estates.
Lashauna Hooker Beachum, age 32, is in the Union County jail this afternoon facing two felony charges of Making False Reports Concerning Mass Violence on Educational Property. The initial post appeared on a local Facebook page, ‘What’s Up Indian Trail’, around 2:00 am Friday morning but disappeared before being posted a second time a few hours later. Numerous citizens reported the concerning messages to the Union County Sheriff’s Office as well as to Union County Public Schools. Sheriff’s deputies immediately began investigating the source of the message and ensured extra patrol was provided for Suburban Estates. Moreover, several additional deputies were on Porter Ridge campuses Friday.
Late Friday afternoon, deputies confirmed the post originated from a residence on Wallace Road in Charlotte and later linked the post to Beachum. The motive behind the two messages allegedly posted by Beachum is not clear. However, detectives do not believe Beachum had the means or intention of acting on the threat.
Sheriff Eddie Cathey praised the work of all deputies, detectives and school officials involved in this investigation. He stated, “The safety of our kids and schools is one of our highest priorities. Any comment, rumor or social media post mentioning violence on school property is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I really appreciate all the hard work that the detectives, deputies and school officials put into this case to get it resolved.”
