Alarming social media posts led to the arrest of a Gilmer County man who was charged with making terroristic threats and acts last week.
According to the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office, Travis Ingram, 44, was arrested after an anonymous phone call advised the department of Facebook posts made by Ingram regarding his anger against law enforcement, as well as a specific threat that he had a bomb and was headed to the Gilmer County Courthouse.
Capt. Frank Copeland, of the sheriff’s office, said Ingram was arrested at his home and there was no threat that a bomb had actually been left at the courthouse.
“It wasn’t a bomb threat like a bomb-inside-the-building kind of thing. He didn’t say he’d planted a bomb. He was in a rage and basically said the wrong thing, that he was on his way,” said Copeland.
The courthouse was put on lockdown (high-alert) status, but was not evacuated.
“If someone threatens that there is a bomb inside the building, we will take appropriate action,” Copeland said. “We did ask the offices inside the courthouse to be on lockdown to be aware of the threat that came in while we were responding and investigating.”
The sheriff’s office said Ingram’s anger about a prior arrest led to the incident. The case was transferred to Superior Court to establish bond, noted Copeland.