School year ends with threat to KSES

A suspect is in custody after several "threats of mass violence" shuttered the entire Cheatham County Schools District early on May 19, according to a post on the district's Facebook page.

Kenneth John Smith, 46, of Springfield, was arrested by Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security agents on Monday, May 19, after allegedly making threats against three Cheatham County schools. 

According to social media posts from Cheatham County Schools, threatening messages were left from the same number on the voicemails at Kingston Springs Elementary School, Cheatham Middle School and West Cheatham Elementary School.

In a precautionary move, Cheatham County Schools made the decision to dismiss all students early when the voicemails were discovered. Crews from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol, swept school buildings and utilized bomb-detection K9s to search for explosives. All buildings were eventually cleared and deemed safe to re-enter.

The last day of school was on May 20, and graduation ceremonies took place as normal.

Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office Lt. G. McCollum shared more details from the incident during an evening press conference on May 19. He's the lieutenant of a new school safety division established this year.

Kingston Springs Elementary, West Cheatham Elementary and Cheatham Middle School were the three schools specifically targeted by threats, he said, noting the voicemails were left over the weekend.

“They weren’t checked on voicemail until staff came in this morning, so it was after school had already started when they were checking the voicemails from over the weekend and noticed that they had this voicemail from him,” McCollum said.

School officials were able to identify Kingston Springs Elementary as the first school that was threatened, then learned about West Cheatham before coordinating with other SROs to check all voicemail systems.

That's when Cheatham Middle School was identified as a target, McCollum said.

He added that school threats are often targeted to an individual school, but this incident with three schools was different.

Smith was charged with three counts of recklessly threatening acts of mass violence against a school property or activity. He appeared in Cheatham County General Sessions Court on Wednesday, May 21, but did not enter a plea, and a mental evaluation was ordered. His motive in the case was not immediately clear.