COVINGTON, Ga. – A juvenile suspect is facing terroristic threats and disorderly conduct charges after reportedly threatening to shoot up a Newton County middle school last week.

According to a Newton County Sheriff’s Office incident report, School Resource Officer Christopher Hegwood met with an assistant principal at Clements Middle School on Thursday concerning information “that one of the students made a threat to shoot up the school.”

The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday, Feb. 28, but the student to whom the threat was made did not report it until the following day.

According to the report, the incident stemmed from unreported racial remarks made in a classroom Tuesday, Feb. 27.

Hegwood wrote in the report, “During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the student reporting the incident assaulted the student reported to have made the threat prior to the threat being made.”

Sherri Davis, director of public relations for the Newton County School System, issued this statement:

“Words were exchanged between two students during an altercation at school. Out of an abundance of caution, the principal notified local law enforcement of the comments. An investigation is underway. Both students involved in the altercation were disciplined for violating the student code of conduct.”

According to the report, school officials took disciplinary measures according to school policy and the matter was referred to Newton County Juvenile Court.