Schools Flooded With Threats Following Florida School Shooting

Chris Jasurek
By Chris Jasurek
February 16, 2018US News
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Schools Flooded With Threats Following Florida School Shooting
A school bus stops, preparing to unload students. (commons.wikimedia.org)

With the pain of the Florida school massacre still fresh, East Coast school systems are more careful than ever when it comes to security threats.

The Miami Herald reported that at least 12 U.S. schools had received threats of violence since the Feb. 14 massacre in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Arrests

A 15-year-old South Portland High School student was arrested after posting threats on Snapchat, using the phrase “shooting up the school,” WMTW reported. When arrested he was carrying a knife.

Oklahoma City police arrested a 13-year-old after officials from the Western Heights school district reported a threat made against one of its schools. Schools were closed for Friday and Monday.

Eighteen-year-old Corey Duff of Charleston was arrested on the night of Feb. 15 after posting a video of himself holding a handgun on Snapchat. Duff, a student at George Washington High School, was charged with threats of terroristic acts, WSAZ reported.

A 16-year-old Macon County, North Carolina, student was arrested on Feb. 14 for threatening violence to a school bus full of fellow students.

Police in Le Mars Iowa arrested a 14-year-old after the student left a threatening note in a classroom, causing a campus-wide lockdown, according to the Sioux City Journal.

A student from Pennsylvania’s Southern Lehigh High School was arrested on Feb. 14 on suspicion of terroristic threats and false reports to law enforcement, after writing a threatening letter, Lehigh Valley Live reported.

‘Potential by Credible Threat’

Five schools in Onslow County, North Carolina, were shut down Friday, Feb. 16, after school officials received what they called a “potential, but credible threat posted on social media,” WCTI12 reported.

This was the second threat in two days and the third this week, which prompted significant police response, WCTI reported.

After investigating, police said that the threat was not credible, and the five schools: Swansboro High School, Swansboro Middle School, Queens Creek Elementary School, Swansboro Elementary School, and Sand Ridge Elementary School, were reopened by 9 a.m.

The warning was posted on the WCTI Facebook page. A parent reacted strongly.

Elizabeth Stilley posted: “When is this going to end? When everyone is dead? Parents need to stop being a friend and start PARENTING. These kids have no respect or discipline and are numb to the thought of killing someone. ”

Gina Partridge offered these hopes and wishes: “Hope they get the person quickly. Hope they charge them. If under 18 parents need to be charged as well. Start locking these kids up to teach them a lesson. Start making the parents accountable for the child they chose to have and raised. If that happens maybe more kids will get help or start thinking before they act stupid. Maybe it’ll make parents monitor their kids better. ”

Patricia Taylor Brown had some more information on the potential threat, “My son goes to the high school they don’t believe there is a weapon on campus but police is on campus looking for a child who attends the school.”

Nutley, New Jersey Schools Closed for Threats

All schools in Nutley, New Jersey, were closed on Friday, Feb. 16, as police investigated a security threat received the night before.    

An Instagram video with the soundtrack Foster the People song “Pumped Up Kicks” was investigated, and the person who posted it was questioned by the police. The song talks about a school’s shooting.

All seven schools in the district were closed.

Threats and Tips

Students at North Middle School in Henderson, Nevada, had their backpacks searched after someone posted threats on social media, the Miami Herald reported.

Sheriff’s deputies patrolled the halls of Teton High School in Driggs, Idaho, on Feb. 15 after administrators received an anonymous tip about a student bringing a gun to school, the Herald also reported.

Threats made by a student at Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, California, were deemed not credible by San Diego police, according to Fox5.

Vermont’s Fair Haven Union High was placed on restricted access while police investigated threats made there, according to MyChamplainValley.com.

Johnston County Sheriff’s Office of Wendell, North Carolina, determined that threats made against Corinth Holders High School were not serious, CBS reported.

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