Social media threats against schools fail to pan out —Threats received at schools across the U.S.
Published 6:25 pm Monday, January 25, 2016
Lincoln Middle School in Port Arthur and Central High School in Beaumont both saw threats made via social media that were false on Monday.
The threats were deemed not viable as schools across the nation were also put on alert for similar threats.
Kristyn Hunt, spokesperson for Port Arthur Independent School District, said the district was made aware of a potentially threatening text message, which was thoroughly investigated by police.
A message was sent to parents of students at LMS to inform them of the incident.
“As a precaution the school was put on alert,” Hunt said, adding this also allowed students and staff to prepare in case a crisis does occur.
The message, she said, originated in Florida and did not specifically address Lincoln Middle School in Port Arthur. There are numerous Lincoln schools throughout the country including several in Texas and Florida alone.
Port Arthur Police Maj. Raymond Clark said police could not find any substance to the threat and the police and school district went through normal procedures involved in a threatening situation.
“The threat was proven not to be viable,” Clark said.
Beaumont Independent School District’s Central High School also investigated a social media threat, possibly from Instagram, on Monday, district spokesman Ron Reynolds said.
The school was evacuated as police conducted a search and students and staff returned to class thereafter. Some parents did opt to take their students out of school for the day.
As PAISD and BISD were investigating the reported threats schools across the country were dealing with similar threats as well.
Lincoln High School in Dallas was on modified lockdown Monday following a Yahoo Messenger threat directed at “all Lincoln students” that warned of a shooting by four gunmen, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The Tallahassee Democrat in Florida also reported violent threats via Instagram accounts aimed at “all Lincoln students, black or white” adding the shooting would occur at lunchtime or earlier.
A similar threat regarding Raytown High School in Raytown, Mo. Was also reported, this one targeting students at “Rhs” high school, according to KCTV 5.
Threats were also directed at schools in Alabama as well and all threats were found not to be viable.
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