OPELIKA, Ala. – The Opelika Police Department has arrested 18-year-old Jacob Scott Howell on additional charges following an ongoing criminal investigation, the department said in a media release Thursday.
Howell was arrested Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, for Making a Terrorist Threat, First Degree, after an investigation into a planned violent attack against Opelika High School. He posted bond and was released from the Lee County Jail later that afternoon.
During the course of that investigation, detectives discovered child pornography on Howell’s electronic devices, police said. On Thursday, Sept. 3, Howell was arrested on 15 counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
A bond hearing is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.
Additionally, police said, Howell is now banned from all school campuses in the state of Alabama.
The case remains under investigation by the Opelika Police Department. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at (334) 705-5200 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665. Tips can also be submitted through the Opelika Police mobile app, and callers may choose to remain anonymous.
An arrest is not a conviction. Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Source: Opelika Police Department media release, Sept. 3, 2026 (Allison Duke, community relations administrator).
