More threats made against local schools
MOORE — A Central Junior High student accused of threatening to “shoot up a school” was taken into custody Friday, a day after police found a hit list belonging to a Southmoore High School student, an official reported.
The Central Junior High student was overheard making the threat Wednesday while riding the bus home from school, but it wasn’t reported to administrators until Friday, said Dustin Horstkoetter, director of safety and security.
On Thursday, Moore police took a Southmoore student into custody after they found the hit list. A fellow student told administrators they overheard the suspect talking about having such a list.
“They’re horrible decisions,” Horstkoetter said, referring to the threats. “I would like to hope that parents are engaging their kids at home and talking to them when tragedies like this happen and having productive conversations with them.”
It was the latest in a string of threats made against local schools following a deadly school shooting in Florida on Wednesday.
Threats against three more Oklahoma City district schools surfaced on social media Friday morning, officials told The Oklahoman.
Oklahoma City district officials were notified of unspecified threats made against Capitol Hill High School, Centennial Mid-High School and U.S. Grant High School, spokeswoman Beth Harrison said.
“We’ve increased security measures at all of those schools,” Harrison said. “There is no evidence whatsoever of an imminent or credible threat to any OKCPS school at this time.”
Oklahoma City police Capt. Bo Mathews said the department investigates every threat to determine its credibility.
“If we’re getting a threat we’re going to look into it,” Mathews said. “We can’t take any chances; we’re going to look into every matter.”
Police, meanwhile, continued to investigate threats made on social media late Thursday against Northeast Academy and John Marshall Mid-High School, Mathews said.
In that social media post, a suspect threatened to “shoot up the school,” referring to Northeast and John Marshall, a police spokesman said.
Both schools added security Friday as a precautionary measure.
The district, meanwhile, has decided to move Friday night’s basketball game between Douglass and host John Marshall to Capitol Hill High School “out of an abundance of caution,” Harrison said.
“The Capitol Hill High School field house has fewer entrances and superior lighting, which makes security easier to monitor,” she said.
Threats of violence against schools also were reported in the Western Heights and Guthrie districts Thursday, a day after the shooting in Florida claimed 17 lives.