Polite turned himself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and Fayetteville police Friday afternoon.
Parson Hills Elementary was locked down briefly Thursday morning after a security issue, according to Rick Schaeffer, Springdale School District communications director. Police say a teacher received information from Polite’s family members that he planned to ‘take a gun and shoot up the school.’
Springdale police, along with a school resource officer, quickly responded.
The school was secured and police began looking for Polite. It was later determined the alleged threats were made earlier in the week and Polite was in Portland, Ark. in the southern part of the state.
According to Fayetteville police, Holcomb Elementary was also put on high alert because Polite had a connection to one of the students, but no direct threat was ever made at Holcomb.
Parson Hills students were not in class Friday, but that`s because the day had already been scheduled for teacher training and planning. Class resumed at Holcomb, as usual.
Hudson released a 2008 booking photo of Polite late Thursday.