SFPS warns: No threat is a joke

Veronica García, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, on Wednesday renewed a plea to parents to warn their kids against making threats of violence, even if the remark or social media post is meant as a joke.

Her districtwide robocall came as police investigated what García described as a threatening comment by a boy at Ortiz Middle School.

“Due to the serious nature of the comment,” García said in the phone message, Santa Fe police conducted an investigation, “and the student has been removed from school.” She pointed out that the incident occurred in the wake of the mass shooting last week in Parkland, Fla.

“We urge parents to talk to their children about the serious consequences comments like these can have,” she said, “even if it is intended as a joke.”

García issued a similar message less than a month ago, following back-to-back investigations into threatening social media posts circulating at Gonzales Community School and Milagro Middle School. In November, two separate shooting threats at Santa Fe High led to criminal charges against students, including one who is suspected of having a rifle in his truck in the parking lot of a school nearby.

School district spokesman Jeff Gephart and Santa Fe Police Department spokesman Greg Gurulé both confirmed Wednesday that an Ortiz student was under investigation because of an alleged threat, but neither offered additional details on the incident.

“It’s still an active investigation at this time,” Gurulé said, adding that more information might be released Thursday.

Gephart, citing privacy laws, declined to say whether the boy was suspended from school or had been removed just for the day.

He echoed García’s call for parents to explain to their kids the gravity of such threats.

“Talk to your children,” he said. “Whether it’s a joke or otherwise, it’s going to be investigated.”