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Maryland Man Threatens Elementary School With Mass Violence: Sheriff

A Maryland was arrested Wednesday, May 25 for making multiple threats of mass violence towards a school just hours after 19 elementary students and two teachers were killed in a Texas school massacre, authorities said.

Earl Benjamin Washington, Jr.

Earl Benjamin Washington, Jr.

Photo Credit: Charles County Sheriff's Office

Earl Benjamin Washington Jr., 46, of Lexington Park, called a business in White Plains and the Gale-Bailey Elementary school making multiple threats of mass violence against them, Tuesday, May 24, the Charles County Sheriff's Office said.

"The calls to the specific locations are related to people he knows and is believed to be domestic-related," the sheriff's office said.

Tuesday's Texas massacre was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook and, paired with threats from Washington, shook the Gale-Bailey to its core.

District Superintendent Dr. Maria V. Navarro issued the following statement that reads, in part:

"As a parent, I know when school shootings happen that these incidents cause panic, stress, anxieties and fears.

"I have asked our school administrators to ensure school resource officers and staffs remain diligent in an awareness of their surroundings and visitors to our schools and buildings. All of our schools and buildings feature a locked door-entry system in which staff uses a camera to monitor visitors at main entrances. Staff also monitors exterior doors to ensure they remain locked throughout the school day."

Extra officers were posted at schools out of an abundance of caution.

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