The Downtown Parade of Lights will go on as planned, despite a social media post indicating rumors of threats to conduct a shooting at the event. ACC Leisure Services confirmed on its Facebook page that the parade is not cancelled. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department is aware of the post and rumored threats and is investigating. In a Facebook post, the ACCPD said the department has not identified any credible threat of violence concerning the parade. The department will continue to monitor the situation and will have appropriate levels of security at the parade.
ACCPD Statement:
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department is aware of a social media post that indicated that there were rumors of threats to conduct a shooting at the Downtown Parade of Lights. The original social media post was shared numerous times and additional social media posts were created. ACCPD is investigating these rumors. However, our investigation has not identified any credible threat of violence concerning the Parade of Lights or the downtown area at this time. We take the safety and security of the community seriously and will continue to monitor and investigate any information implicating the security of the parade. As is our practice for any major public event, ACCPD will have appropriate levels of presence in the downtown area to monitor the safety and security of all people attending the parade.
