GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WKYT) - On Monday, a student at Georgetown Middle School reported he got an anonymous phone call with a dangerous voicemail.

"This was from a blocked number. It was a very quick, fast message so you had to listen," explained Scott County Sheriff Tony Hampton.

In the voicemail, investigators quote the caller as saying, "You go to GMS. I'm going to shoot up that school, bro."

It's the type of joke no one laughs at, and now it's a costly lesson for 18-year-old Taylor Burden, who said he called the other student after finding his number in his cousin's phone.

"We was prank calling somebody and it turned into a big problem," said Burden in his defense.

I then countered saying, "Yes, but your prank call said you were going to shoot up a school."

He responded, "Yes, but we didn't really mean it like that."

When asked to clarify how he meant it, Burden said, "We was just trying to scare somebody."

Hours after the call was reported, detectives went to great lengths to break through Burden's anonymous number.

"My detectives did an excellent job on going through phone records, talking to other individuals that our suspect had called, and actually were able to get our suspect on the phone and (we) knew that we had the right guy at that time," described Sheriff Hampton of the process.

Investigators say Burden did not have a gun, when they confronted him. Sheriff Hampton even said Burden admitted to his detectives that he never intended to carry out the threat. Still, Hampton and others say when it comes to protecting your students, they take this very seriously.

"We're going to take action," stated the Sheriff.

In a statement, Scott County Superintendent Patricia Putty added, "We want to reassure our parents and community that the safety and security of our students and staff is our number one priority. Although this was a prank call, we take every precaution when it comes to the safety of our students," she went on to say, "We appreciate the collaborative effort of our Sheriff's department and the local police department for their immediate and thorough investigation into this allegation."

As for the high school student who admitted to making the call, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It was just a joke."

Now, Burden faces terroristic threatening charges because of his "joke."

Sheriff Hampton said the middle school's Resource Officer had a plan in place, with his deputies standing by in case of any attempt at violence at the school.