MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — There is tension at Forsyth City Hall where law enforcement is investigating a death threat. The city says someone made a threat against City Manager Janice Hall.
They say a letter was sent last Friday to Police Chief Eddie Harris, who delivered the letter to Hall. They say she was encouraged to file a report with the sheriff’s office.
They’re since taken over the investigation.
13WMAZ’s Jessica Cha went to Monroe County to find out more on the alleged threat..
Sheriff Brad Freeman says that the reason the death threat was sent was because the local newspaper published the city manager's opinion on how Chief Harris should wear his uniform.
"The person who read the article just took offense and thought that maybe she was picking on the police chief or something like that and decided to write a threatening letter,” he explains.
Freeman says this has never happened while he's been sheriff. He says they're still investigating, but they've stepped up security at city hall. He said he won’t go into detail about how.
"Right now, we've reached out to the postal inspector of this area in trying to track this letter. We've also sent this letter to the GBI crime lab to try to do DNA analysis on the letter. We hope something will come of that,” Freeman says.
He says you never know how serious people are with threats these days, so there's cause for concern. They’re taking this threat very seriously.
"It does kind of fit the criteria of terrorism," says Freeman. "Somebody's trying to make a government official change the way they're operating through a threat of intimidation of violence.”
Mayor Eric Wilson has worked with Hall for over a decade.
"To be in public service, you shouldn't be put in this position,” he explains. "Janice is a great person. She's a hard-working person. She's often the first one here and the last one to leave, she's just very diligent and does a good job for the city of Forsyth.”
Wilson says this is very unusual and concerning for a small tight-knit city and wants this resolved quickly.
"Our hearts go out to Janice that she received the threat in the first place. You know, you're in fear and you're angry, and so many emotions come into play with that,” he says.
Janice Hall declined to speak on the matter because she was concerned for her safety.
The City of Forsyth says they're offering a reward in the case with money from private donors. Thursday afternoon, Macon Regional Crimestoppers said it's adding $2,000 to that. If you know anything about the letter, you can call Crimestoppers at 1-877-68-CRIME.