Georgia · Atkinson County · Schools

GBI Names Kendall Alfonzo Stevens, a Telfair State Prison Inmate, in the Atkinson County School Bomb Threat; Schools in Pearson and Willacoochee Dismissed Early

The phone behind a bomb threat to Atkinson County High School has been recovered, and the call traced to an inmate already held in Georgia Department of Corrections custody, Sheriff David Moore said Monday, WALB News 10 reported. On Tuesday the GBI said preliminary information indicates Kendall Alfonzo Stevens, 37, an inmate serving life without parole at Telfair State Prison, made the threat. No charge has been announced.

What did the GBI say about who made the Atkinson County bomb threat?

Preliminary information indicates Kendall Alfonzo Stevens, 37, originally from Savannah, made the bomb threat against an Atkinson County school, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday.

Stevens is incarcerated at Telfair State Prison, serving a sentence of life without parole, the agency said.

The GBI said its investigation points to a motive of disrupting school operations.

The request to investigate came from the school system’s own police chief, the GBI said. The threat reached the district on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

No charge has been announced. The GBI said the Alapaha District Attorney’s Office will review the case file after investigators finish their work.

What did the Atkinson County sheriff say Monday?

Investigators have recovered the phone used to call in a bomb threat to Atkinson County High School, and they determined the call was made by an inmate already held by the Georgia Department of Corrections, Sheriff David Moore said Monday, WALB News 10 reported.

Moore said investigators knew which inmate placed the call. On Monday the name was being kept out of public view while the case was open.

“There is a lot we know. There is a lot we are not allowed to say at this moment,” Moore said. “We are not able to name the name right now even though we know it.”

Releasing certain details, the inmate’s name among them, could compromise the case, Moore said.

That was the position on Monday. The GBI named the inmate the following day.

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What happened at Atkinson County schools on Friday?

Every campus in the Atkinson County School System emptied early Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, after the threat reached the district, and staff were sent home alongside students.

K-9 teams trained to detect explosives swept the high school campus. The threat was cleared, and the question of who placed the call stayed open through the weekend.

The district said its students and employees are all safe. It ended the school day early across every campus as a precaution, working through safety procedures it already had in place and doing so alongside law enforcement.

Superintendent Dr. Melissa Wilbanks said Atkinson County keeps standing procedures for emergencies of this kind.

The district wanted an adult waiting when the buses reached their stops. It asked families to “please make arrangements as soon as possible for someone to be available to receive your child when the school bus arrives at home.”

School grounds were closed to everyone but parents and law enforcement, the school system said at the time.

A parent collecting a child from school put it bluntly: “I hope whoever did this, pays,” WALB News 10 reported.

Wilbanks said more would go out to families as officials learned it, and the district said student and staff safety comes ahead of everything else.

Which schools does the Atkinson County district run?

Friday’s dismissal covered the district’s entire roster, which runs to four schools.

They are Atkinson County High School, Atkinson County Middle School, Pearson Elementary School and Willacoochee Elementary School — a roster that puts the district’s campuses in Pearson and Willacoochee.

The district office is in Pearson, at 98 E. Roberts Ave.

Who was on the Atkinson County campuses Monday?

Moore said deputies would have an increased presence around the schools as students returned Monday, Aug. 24, 2026.

“We understand there is widespread fear and concern over sending your kids to school or not,” Moore said. “SRO, ATCO SO, Pearson PD, Willacoochee PD, DNR and GDC K-9 are on campus.”

In that shorthand: the school resource officer, the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office, the Pearson and Willacoochee police departments, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and a Department of Corrections K-9 unit.

What was circulating on social media over the weekend?

A TikTok video and a run of comments spread over the weekend.

Investigators had an active lead and a person of interest in Friday’s threat, the school system said, with the GBI working the case alongside local officers.

Authorities were separately working to identify whoever was behind the TikTok video and the comments.

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Is this the only recent school bomb threat in South Georgia?

No. This is one of three bomb threats reported at schools in or near WALB News 10’s South Georgia coverage area inside a week, the station reported.

Worth County High School in Sylvester released students at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, after a message referencing a possible bomb threat was found written on a bathroom wall, and a law enforcement search of the building reportedly turned up no explosive devices.

What does Georgia law say about phoning in a false bomb threat?

Georgia prosecutes this conduct under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-37, headed “Terroristic threats and acts.”

A person commits a terroristic threat under that section by threatening to commit any crime of violence, to release any hazardous substance, or to burn or damage property.

The threat has to be made with the purpose of terrorizing another, of causing the evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation, or of otherwise causing serious public inconvenience — or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing any of those.

A terroristic threat is a misdemeanor. If the threat suggested the death of the threatened individual, it becomes a felony carrying one to five years, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Subsection (b) bars a conviction on the uncorroborated testimony of the person the threat was communicated to.

No charge has been announced in Atkinson County.

Is it against the law for a Georgia inmate to have a phone?

Yes. O.C.G.A. § 42-5-18 makes it unlawful for an inmate to possess a telecommunications device without the authorization of the warden or superintendent.

That term is defined broadly. It covers a telephone, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a transmitting radio or a computer — anything that enables, or may be used to enable, communication with a person outside a place of incarceration.

An inmate who possesses one is guilty of a felony punishable by one to five years. If the inmate is being held on a misdemeanor, the possession is treated as a misdemeanor.

Supplying one is heavier. Anyone who obtains, procures or gives an inmate a telecommunications device faces a felony sentence of ten years, and a corrections employee or contractor who does it faces the same term.

Nothing has been released about how a phone reached this inmate.

What happens next in the Atkinson County investigation?

A briefing was set for Monday bringing together law enforcement, stakeholders and school officials to go over safety plans.

On Friday the district had said it would hold a Monday debrief with law enforcement, to go back over what happened and decide whether any further safety measures are needed.

The case remains open. Moore said Monday the name would not come out while it was; the GBI released it the next day.

Updates will keep going out to families and staff, the district said.

Which agency holds the records in this case?

The Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office is running the local investigation and made Monday’s announcement. The school system said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is involved. The Georgia Department of Corrections has custody of the inmate.

The corrections department takes records requests through its open records portal under Georgia’s Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 and following.

That department publishes standing exceptions to what it will hand over. Among them are offender institutional files, inmate telephone system call information, and investigations and intelligence compiled by its Office of Professional Standards.

The department has three business days to give an initial response under Georgia’s Open Records Act.

Other Atkinson County reports are collected on our Atkinson County page.

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How does the Atkinson County district reach families?

The district publishes its own notices at atkinson.k12.ga.us, and Wilbanks said further information would reach families as officials received it.

The Atkinson County School System’s district office is at 98 E. Roberts Ave., Pearson, GA 31642. Its telephone number is 912-422-7373.

What don’t we know yet about the Atkinson County bomb threat?

What else are people asking about the Atkinson County schools bomb threat?

Who made the bomb threat call to Atkinson County High School?
Preliminary information indicates Kendall Alfonzo Stevens, 37, an inmate at Telfair State Prison serving life without parole, made the threat, the GBI said Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. No charge has been announced.

Did investigators find the phone used in the Atkinson County bomb threat?
Yes. Moore said Monday that investigators recovered the phone used to place the call.

Has anyone been charged over the Atkinson County bomb threat?
No. The GBI has not announced a charge against Kendall Alfonzo Stevens, the inmate it named Tuesday. The agency said the Alapaha District Attorney’s Office will review the case file after investigators finish their work.

Were Atkinson County schools open Monday?
Students returned Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, and Moore said deputies had an increased presence around the schools. In that shorthand: the school resource officer, the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office, the Pearson and Willacoochee police departments, the Department of Natural Resources and a Department of Corrections K-9 unit.

What happened at Atkinson County schools on Friday?
Every school in the district let out early on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, after a bomb threat reached the Atkinson County School System, WALB News 10 reported. Bomb-detection K-9 teams searched the high school campus and the threat was cleared. The district said its students and employees are all safe.

Which Atkinson County schools were dismissed?
All of them. The dismissal covered the district’s entire roster of four schools: Atkinson County High School, Atkinson County Middle School, Pearson Elementary School and Willacoochee Elementary School.

What was the TikTok video circulating in Atkinson County?
A TikTok video and comments circulated over the weekend. Investigators had an active lead and a person of interest in Friday’s threat, the school system said, with the GBI working the case alongside local officers. Authorities were separately trying to identify whoever was behind the video and the comments. Nothing has been released about the account or the person.

What Georgia law covers phoning in a false bomb threat?
O.C.G.A. § 16-11-37 defines a terroristic threat as threatening to commit any crime of violence, release a hazardous substance, or burn or damage property, when the threat is made with the purpose of terrorizing another, of causing the evacuation of a building or place of assembly, or of otherwise causing serious public inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of that risk. It is a misdemeanor, or a felony carrying one to five years if the threat suggested the death of the threatened individual. No charge has been announced in Atkinson County.

Is it against the law for a Georgia inmate to have a cellphone?
Yes. O.C.G.A. § 42-5-18 makes it unlawful for an inmate to possess a telecommunications device, a term the statute defines to include a cellular telephone, without the authorization of the warden or superintendent. An inmate who does is guilty of a felony punishable by one to five years. Anyone who gives an inmate such a device faces a felony sentence of ten years.