Hazard man charged after alleged threat to school graduation

A Hazard teenager is facing felony terroristic threatening after police said he allegedly threatened to shoot his juvenile girlfriend and others at an eighth-grade graduation, a scare that put a Perry County school event at the center of a criminal investigation. Kentucky State Police were alerted on May 27 after Robinson Elementary Principal Jamie Fugate was notified of the alleged threat.

The arrest citation says the threat was connected to a graduation ceremony where students, families, staff and other community members would have been gathered together. Investigators said the alleged target included Fugate’s juvenile girlfriend and others at the event, turning what should have been a milestone school celebration into a public-safety concern.

The allegation did not involve a reported shooting, and no weapon was reported as being displayed in the information provided. Even so, the claim was serious enough to trigger a rapid response from law enforcement and school officials, especially because the threat was tied to a specific local school function in Hazard rather than a vague online remark with no direct local connection.

That context matters in Perry County, where families have already seen school-security scares prompt immediate action. Perry County Central High School previously went into lockdown during a separate incident after reports of a possible weapon, a reminder that even rumors of violence can force schools to tighten security and focus on student safety.

Perry County Schools is based at 315 Park Ave. in Hazard and serves 12 schools across the district. Hazard, the county seat of Perry County, was founded in 1821 and incorporated in 1884, and incidents tied to local schools often ripple quickly through the wider community because so many families have a direct stake in what happens on campus.

The case now adds another charge to the county’s broader concerns about school safety, especially during graduation season when halls, gyms and auditoriums fill with relatives, teachers and classmates. In a community where school events are central to family life, any alleged threat aimed at a ceremony draws immediate attention from police, administrators and parents alike.