ATLANTA – House Majority Whip James Burchett (R-Waycross), State Representatives John Corbett (R-Lake Park), Buddy DeLoach (R-Townsend), John LaHood (R-Valdosta), Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), Steven Sainz (R-St. Marys) and Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) today issued the following joint statement regarding active shooter threats made against schools in the South Georgia area:
“We strongly condemn threats of violence against any student and teacher in Georgia, and the recent threats made against South Georgia schools is unacceptable and must be investigated. As such, we have requested that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation initiate a task force to find the guilty parties involved. Local and state law enforcement did an excellent job immediately deploying personnel to several school campuses to ensure students and teachers were safe, and we commend them for their quick action and response. However, we cannot stop there. While we are grateful these threats did not materialize, we cannot wait for students and teachers to be harmed with real threats in order to bring criminals to justice. We fully support using any federal, state and local resources necessary to bring the criminals behind these threats to justice, and we encourage full interagency cooperation to enhance the investigation.”
Representative James Burchett currently represents the citizens of District 176, which includes Atkinson and Lanier counties and portions of Lowndes and Ware counties; District 176 will also include portions of Coffee County starting in 2023. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2019 and currently serves as the House Majority Whip. He also serves as the Chairman of the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee and serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight and Transportation committees. He is also an Ex-Officio member of the Judiciary Committee.
Representative John Corbett currently represents the citizens of District 174, which includes Clinch and Echols counties and portions of Camden, Charlton, Lowndes and Ware counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves as Chairman of the Motor Vehicles Committee. He also serves on the Special Committee On Access to Quality Health Care and the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Game, Fish & Parks, Intragovernmental Coordination, Natural Resources & Environment, Small Business Development, Transportation and Ways & Means committees.
Representative Buddy DeLoach currently represents the citizens of District 167, which includes Long and McIntosh counties and portions of Glynn County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and was re-elected in 2020. He currently serves on the Special Committee on Election Integrity and the Natural Resources & Environment, Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment and Special Rules committees.
Representative John LaHood currently represents the citizens of District 175, which includes Brooks County and portions of Lowndes and Thomas counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves as the Chairman of the Code Revision Committee and Vice Chairman of the Game, Fish & Parks Committee and Vice Chairman Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development. He also serves as Secretary of the Human Relations & Aging Committee and is a member of the Health & Human Services, Science and Technology and Information and Audits committees.
Representative Jesse Petrea currently represents the citizens of District 166, which includes portions of Bryan and Chatham counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves as Chairman of the Human Relations & Aging Committee and Secretary of the Science and Technology Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and the Game, Fish & Parks, Health & Human Services and Public Safety & Homeland Security committees.
Representative Steven Sainz currently represents the citizens of District 180, which includes Camden, Charlton and Ware counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee and Secretary of the Economic Development & Tourism Committee. He also serves on the Creative Arts & Entertainment, Defense & Veterans Affairs, Science and Technology and Judiciary Non-Civil committees.
Representative Ron Stephens currently represents the citizens of District 164, which includes portions of Bryan, Chatham and Liberty counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996 and currently serves as Chairman of the Economic Development & Tourism Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and the Creative Arts & Entertainment, Rules and Ways & Means committees.
###