A Putnam County man arrested Thursday morning, charged with possession of multiple weapons and drugs outside Highland Rim Academy.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Alex Dailey Thomas arrested after school officials reported that a suspicious male was in the school’s parking lot. Sheriff Eddie Farris said the school went into a “Soft Lockdown” as the school’s resource officer made contact with Thomas.
“It led to this individual having some weapons on him, as well as some illegal drugs,” Farris said. “So, you know, obviously, the guy was not thinking real well to show up at a school knowing that we have got SRO deputies in every single school.”
The school’s SRO asked Thomas if he had any weapons on him, and Thomas said he had “some blades on him.” After searching Thomas, law enforcement found two knives, a BB gun that looked like a handgun, and substances that appeared to be Marijuana and Methemphetamines.
Thomas was arrested and charged with 3 counts of Carrying Weapons on School Property, Possession of Methamphetamine in a Drug Free School Zone, 2 counts of Simple Possession in a Drug Free School Zone, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Thomas has a total bond set at $56,500 and a court date of April 6, 2026.
Farris said investigators believed that Thomas is homeless. Farris said investigators are still unsure why Thomas was on school property.
“I don’t know that we ever got an answer from that,” Farris said. “I think, I don’t know if he was looking for a place just to rest for a while or if he was actually, you know, trying to think about going inside, possibly to, maybe not necessarily to do any harm, but I don’t know if the individual was there maybe needing to go to the restroom or whatever the case may be. We’re not sure.”
Farris said the SRO and deputies were able to secure the situation fairly quickly. Farris said the incident is a reminder of just how important it is to have an SRO at each school.
“Number one goal is to make sure that the kids and the faculty stay safe and are safe,” Farris said. “And so anytime we can handle things outside the school is certainly much better than inside the building. And we don’t need to be taking any chances. We don’t do that. We don’t ask the school faculty or anything to take chances. So we handle all these type situations. And thank goodness this one here didn’t amount to anything.”
Farris said the his goal is to continue keeping the community safe especially schools.