Thibodaux Chief of Police Bryan Zeringue announced the arrest of Xavier Smith (B/M, 18), of Gheens, LA for Terrorizing (Felony), amid threats to individuals at E.D. White High School.
On Tuesday, February 6th, 2024, during mid-morning hours, Thibodaux Police Officers responded to 555 Cardinal Drive (Edward Douglas White High School), due to a report of a male subject making threats of violence to students at the school via snap-chat. No specific threat was made to the school at large.
Upon officers arriving on scene, it was learned that several juvenile students received threating messages both text and pictures through a snap-chat application. The students were able to provide detectives with the first name of the suspect, but the last name was later discovered through investigation. While detectives continued with the investigation, officers remained on scene through dismissal.
As detectives worked into the night, the suspect was confirmed to be Xavier Smith who had affiliation with a student at E.D. White High School. The investigation revealed that Mr. Smith made violent threats to several individuals who were acquaintances of the student that Mr. Smith was affiliated with.
Facts of the investigation led the Thibodaux Police Department Criminal Investigations Division to obtain a Terrorizing Warrant for the arrest of Mr. Smith. During the late night hours of Tuesday, February 6th, 2024, investigators were able to confirm that Mr. Smith was not located in Lafourche Parish. Investigators worked around the clock with Probation & Parole and the Plaquemine Parish Sheriff’s Office to form a plan to apprehend the suspect.
This evening, Mr. Smith was successfully apprehended without incident. Mr. Smith was located in Venice, Louisiana, where he was taken into custody by the Plaquemine Parish Sheriff’s Office S.W.AT. Team.
Smith will be booked by the Plaquemine Parish Sheriff’s Office and later transported to the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex. Mr. Smith has a bond set at $250,000.00. The incident remains under investigation and further charges regarding this incident are not being ruled out.