Possible threats result in early dismissals at EC high schools
EL CENTRO — Possible threats made on social media against first Southwest High School and later Central Union High School prompted school officials on Monday to close each campus midway through the school day, after concerned parents rushed to the schools.
In a joint press release issued Monday evening, the El Centro Police Department and the Central Union High School District announced that at 6:38 a.m. Monday, Southwest had learned that a possible threat to the school had been posted on SnapChat overnight.
The post said there were plans to shoot up the school during both lunch periods.
An assessment by ECPD and the school district determined that the message did not likely represent a credible threat to the safety of the campus, the release said.
That’s not how parents saw it, however, and CUHSD Superintendent Dr. Ward Andrus said the decision to cancel classes occurred when hundreds of parents came rushing to the school, instructing their children to leave with or without a teacher’s consent.
Parents’ reactions were putting the situation out of control, Andrus said.
“We had students waiting (for parents),” he said. “We had so many students and parents that we could not control.”
He said a danger existed with so many parents being at the school.
“It’s a little disappointing because there is a lack of trust (from parents) in the trained professionals.” he said.
As students sat in class at Southwest, they learned of the post between 9:30 and 10 a.m.
Andrus said he is a parent, so he understands what other parents probably were thinking.
After the Southwest students were released, Andrus met with staff to tell them it was a rumor of a threat that was not credible. He said the school has identified the person who made the original post and those who may have shared it or helped with it.
He said he still wished the parents had used some restraint and left the incident to the trained professionals.
“Some media posts got out there before we could make a statement,” Andrus said. “Social media was not helpful to the school.”
He stressed that the safety of the students is the district’s top priority and an announcement was made at 10:50 a.m. that the school day was ending in 10 minutes.
Buses were brought back to the school, and by 11:15 to 11:20 a.m. all students had left the school.
Because the rumored threats were not credible, the Southwest varsity sports teams still competed Monday night.
When Andrus was asked about recent incidents at Southwest High School, like finding live ammunition, a gun being shown in a mirror at the school or a student carrying BB gun that looked like a handgun, he said the totality of them looks worse than looking at them individually.
“We are always looking for potential threats,” he said, and added he is concerned of copycats who might try to cast the same type of rumor.
Almost immediately after talking about the potential for copycats, his forecast, to his dismay, occurred.
While he was still talking to the press at Southwest, Andrus received a text that a similar social media post was found that threatened Central Union High School and its students.
As parents in cars backed up traffic all around Central as they waited for their children, school officials announced the school day would end at 1 p.m.
Central senior Jonathan Medina said a lot of his classmates were aware earlier in the day of the shooting threat at Southwest.
He thinks it is possible the person who posted the comment about Southwest could have posted the rumored threat to his school after not receiving the impact that was desired.
Medina said he was a little worried for his safety, but added this is not the first or second time a rumored threat was posted on social media about shooting up his school.
“We have law enforcement on campus every day,” he said.
Parent Carmen Romero was driving when she heard of the threat at Central and instantly changed course to arrive at the school to be with her son.
She said parents need to know if the post was a rumor, a threat or something else.
“You need to take that into consideration,” she said, saying one never knows.
Her son, Gabriel Romero, a senior at Central, did not appear too worried about what transpired.
“I was at lunch when I heard the news,” he said. “In a way it could have been a copycat, but you never know.”
Andrus said the schools would reopen at their normal time today.
The school district and ECPD emphasized the importance of relying on official sources regarding any school or public safety issue. Official statements and information will come only through official school district and law enforcement messaging systems, websites and official social media outlets, they said.