Blount County, Tenn.(WVLT)-- One man is in custody following a lockdown at middle school

Deputies arrested 42-year-old Ernest Dean Vickers following a lockdown at Carpenters Middle School this afternoon.

Around 3 p.m. Wednesday the Blount County Sheriff’s Office were called to Carpenters Middle School.

They got reports of a man on campus making threats to his ex-girlfriend on the telephone in the school office.

Earlier in the day, as well as over the past several weeks, deputies say Vickers made threatening phone calls to another individual associated with his ex-girlfriend.

A decision was made to put the school on lockdown as a precautionary measure for the safety of the children and the staff.

The children were released shortly after 4 p.m.

Knoxville Police Department picked Vickers up at his Knoxville home around 4:45 and brought him back to Blount County.

He's being held in the Blount County Correctional Facility on bonds totaling $2,000 on the charges of domestic violence with assault and simple assault.

He has a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court at 9 a.m. December 29.