UPDATE: Lockdown lifted at 4 Bluffton schools. Here’s what officials say happened

The lockdown at four Bluffton schools was lifted just after 11:30 a.m. Friday, officials with the Beaufort County School District said in an email.

May River High School, Bluffton High School, Bluffton Elementary School and H.E. McCracken Middle School were placed on a modified lockdown at 9 a.m., officials said.

The reason for the lockdown was “a generalized, non-specific threat made on social media,” said Beaufort County School District spokesperson Jim Foster.

Law enforcement determined the social media post was made from out of state and did not pose a credible threat, the email from the school district said.

The Bluffton Police Department was notified at 7:30 a.m. Friday about a threat made against Bluffton High School and May River High School on social media, Captain Joe Babkiewicz said in a Facebook Live video. He said investigators have “made contact with where that threat came from.”

Babkiewicz said there would be an increased police presence at Friday night’s football game between the two schools, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

“However, this is not because of the threat; it is because of the high amount of people that come to these games,” he said.

Investigators were on the scene at both high schools for more than two hours, according to Joy Nelson, spokesperson for the Bluffton Police Department.

A Bluffton Police Department Facebook post said officers are “investigating an unsubstantiated social media threat” that involved the two high schools. After an Island Packet reporter asked Nelson what the police department meant by “unsubstantiated,” she updated the post to describe the threat as “non-credible.”

All four schools were on modified lockdown, which means that students were in classes, but “are more closely monitored during class changes, and outdoor activities are suspended,” according to a news release from the school district.

Foster said the elementary school and middle school were placed on lockdown out of an “abundance of caution” because they share outdoor areas with the high schools.

This is the first week of school in Beaufort County.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said two elementary schools were on lockdown. The error has been corrected.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 9:10 AM.