Lawsuit: School security officer accused of bomb threat tried to frame student

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A father is suing the security company that employed a 20-year-old man who was charged with making a bomb threat to the school he worked at, Myrtle Beach High School.

Craig Cook has filed suit against Allied Universal Security, alleging that their employee, Security Officer Coty Kennedy, tried to frame his son for a bomb threat against the school.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department says Kennedy wrote a note threatening to “Blow up the School” back in March.

Kennedy took the note and placed it on the hallway floor near a 16-year-old student, according to the recently filed lawsuit.

After this, the 16-year-old was questioned without his parents by the school’s administration about the note for over an hour, the lawsuit states. Cook claims his son was repeatedly asked to confess to the crime.

In the lawsuit, Cook accuses Allied Security of negligence in their hiring and training of Kennedy. Kennedy, according to the suit, was known to engage in “inappropriate” behavior with students, such as vaping with them in the bathroom.

Police and the Horry County School District say Kennedy confessed to writing the note.

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Following the incident, the school district announced Kennedy “will no longer be affiliated with Horry County Schools.” Before his time at Myrtle Beach High School, Kennedy was fired from a different security officer gig in May 2022, the lawsuit states.

Cook is seeking a jury trial with unspecified damages.

Allied Universal released this statement on the lawsuit:

“Allied Universal takes this and all lawsuits seriously.  We are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

A copy of the lawsuit can be viewed below:

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