Deputies Investigate Arson Threat Against District 5

Lexington-Richland 5 officials have taken extra safety precautions after a teacher received a text message last Friday that threatened to burn the district to the ground. 

The message came the same day and right before Irmo High School was evacuated after smoke was detected. Authorities determined the smoke was caused by a motor in the school's heating and air conditioning unit. No one was injured during the incident.

The text message, obtained by WIS-TV, read: "I'm about to burn Lexington-Richland 5 to the ground."

The teacher reported receiving the message to school officials who then contacted the Richland County Sheriff's Department. 

Mark Bounds, the district's public information officer, said staff was alerted to the message and that extra local law enforcement patrols were present at schools. 

According to the report, the text message allegedly came from a cell phone belonging to Columbia attorney, Todd Kincannon. 

Kincannon, who represents District 5 board member Kim Murphy in the dispute over her residency in Richland County, told Patch Wednesday that he did not send the message.

"The whole thing is silly to me," Kincannon said. "I didn't send it."

He said the text message is "some stupid prank" or that someone is out to make him look bad. 

Kincannon said he was contacted by Richland County deputies about the message. He said his phone was spoofed and that it didn't come from him.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, someone could use “caller ID spoofing,” to disguise the identity of the person calling with another number.

Kincannon said spoofing is "unfortunately not that uncommon."

The Richland County Sheriff's Department continues to investigate the incident and have not released information about the message.

The school district is still taking precautionary measures, but it appears the threat is diminished, Bounds said.

Bounds said the district is taking the incident seriously and will remain vigilant on school security until they're 100 percent sure there is no threat.

Officials said the text message and the smoke at Irmo High are unrelated. 

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