Police converge on schools as precaution
Threat overheard on school bus
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Law enforcement officers greeted students as they arrived this morning at Emporia High School and Emporia Middle School.
The precautionary measure came in response to a conversation overheard Wednesday afternoon as students were riding home on a district school bus, according to community relations director Nancy Horst.
“... (A) student overheard some other students talking about bringing a gun to school today,” Horst said. “So the child that heard that let someone know and basically yesterday evening, over a multi-hour period, some school administrators and support staff were tracking down kids on that bus to talk with them.”
Horst said the district got police involved and interviews were done.
“The police determined it was not a credible threat,” she said. “... They were able to track down the student that made that comment.”
Although the threat was not deemed credible, a number of officers in patrol cars were at each school this morning as a precaution, she said.
“So actually it was, in my opinion, a very good example of how school employees really take kids’ comments seriously, follow up on them, and are really proactive to make sure those things don’t happen,” Horst said.
Comments
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Posted by citizen (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the student seriously. It is refreshing to know that the school and the police are trying to keep our children safe. Thank you.
Posted by gayzettesux (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's funny you printed this story but when there was a bomb threat written on a wall at ESU last week you had nothing about it. I guess the university's doing a pretty good job keeping you happy so you don't print what they don't want you to.
Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know kids are going to do and say things they don't mean, and I applaud the student who let the proper authorities know what was heard, but my question is will the student who made the comment be held accountable? As a young kid, we don't always think about the consequences of our words or actions, but look at how much time and energy was wasted (necessarily though just in case) on a threat that was not deemed credible. Don't get me wrong - I would much prefer to be overly cautious than to have a tragedy occur, but I think kids need to realize that they can't just say/do things like that and have nothing happen. I'm not saying throw the kid in jail or anything, but maybe some community service to pay back for the time spent on this.
Posted by rmbcollege (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Although something wasn't wrote up in the paper about ESU's stuff, there were 2 emails sent campus wide to inform everyone of the incident that occured.
Posted by hottopics (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 9:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Great job getting the job done. You can never be to careful in the world of guns and kids. Its sad that our society has come to this but I applaud the schools and law enforcement for the fast response. Its nice to know my kids are safe in class.
Posted by kitty93 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This was not told to concerned students at the high school when they asked the police officers. The story told was one of they were there for the fire drill. I know this was probably to keep the students from freaking out, but high schoolers can handle the truth, and I ask in future situations it be told.
Posted by rollingdavidspade (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 10:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
definately a good thing that they took the kid seriously, but honestly...... not to many people, especially kids, have a big enough set to follow through with something like this. now dont get me wrong, it is a good thing they took necessary precautions to prevent a columbine, but it was most likely going to be all bark and no bite.
Posted by create (anonymous) on March 2, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry, kitty93, but students DO freak out and they endanger everybody. I've been in a school setting for a take-cover situation during a real tornado warning. Imagine what it would be like in a situation involving a gun threat? Ever play the game gossip?
Posted by conan_mcgill (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 12:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i am a student at EHS, and not knowing why we have police standing at every door we have scared the crap outta me. and it would of been better to let us know why EXACTLY they were there. my first idea was a drug check, or something about a fire drill. but when i herd about a kid saying he would bring a gun to school, my reaction was " wow, that would of been nice to know" because my friends mother found out about the threat and took her kids out of class because of the "threat". so i think it would of been nice that we would of known about it before we even got to school
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree with you conan, i dont think they pulled to wool over anyones eyes by calling it a fire drill, and even if it scares you to know whats going on, you should be informed so you(or your parents) can decide if you want to stay in school or not.
Posted by Bjnemp (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hindsight is 20/20. At the time, and under the circumstances, our police department did exactly the right thing. I was proud when I heard of their reaction to the situation and felt safer because of it. There is no margin of error when a student, even if thought to be joking, makes a threat of violence. A 99% chance the threat was harmless still leaves that 1% chance that it wasn't---and that could lead to promising young lives being snuffed out in a heartbeat. Good job, EPD; and kudos to the student who reported the comment and the school administrators who took it seriously. It was just stupid talk this time. Next time it may be deadly serious.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yes, its good they took it seriously the police do a good job. my kids have permission to come home from school anytime they dont feel safe in school, they stayed in school that day so they must not have felt afraid, but i could understand if they had.
Posted by nesia01 (anonymous) on March 3, 2008 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, it would of been nice to know what was happening. I was there that day visiting the school and not knowing what was going on. I thought it was a regular drill. I did not know what I could of possibly be in danger.
But I'm glad they took care of the situation.
Posted by karyle (anonymous) on March 11, 2008 at 4:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is ALWAYS good to take precaution even if it turns out to be a hoax. My husband works for usd259 and everyday there is something. 90% of the time the threat or rumors are true. We live in a messed up world and it's messed up because of messed up people that actually carry thru with the treats and kill innocent people. It is way past time for our children to start suffering the consiquences of their actions. They think that the world owes them. This is our future. . . scary isn't it?
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