Violent threats made on social media to several Denver schools this week

DENVER (KDVR) – Denver Public Schools sent a letter to parents and staff on Monday and Friday regarding social media threats of violence mentioning DPS schools.

Several schools in the Denver metro area and across the state have received threats of violence this week on social media. This comes just a little over a week after the deadly school shooting in Georgia on Sept. 4.

The district says no matter the level of threat, they are taking each one very seriously to ensure safety for students and peace of mind for parents and guardians. While DPS does not believe the threats are credible, Director of External Communication Scott Pribble says the district felt it was still right to notify parents.

“The threats that we get just name some schools, and often times there may be a photo of a weapon, and then the message is ‘don’t go to school tomorrow’ or this date or whatever, very cryptic, not specific,” Pribble said.

But it’s not just DPS that’s involved: Just this week alone, there were threats at three Englewood schools , Northridge High School in Greeley, several schools in Boulder, and at Lake County School District . Some led to school cancelations and increased police presence.

“The threat that we received on Monday actually included some schools from across Colorado as well as some schools in Texas and so it’s not uncommon for whoever doing this to pick out some different schools around the area or around the country and send this notice out and often times, what will happen after an incident that occurred like what happened last week in Georgia where the people who are perpetrating this are using that fact to instill that fear,” Pribble said.

Denver police and school resource officers at those schools are aware of the threats and are working with the district. DPS says reports from the Safe2Tell, alert system helped them with this.

If you do see something like this online or hear of a threat being made you can report that via their alert line at: 1-877-542-safe (7233).

“If there is something that is suspicious that you are aware of or maybe there is something you are not sure about, report that to us so we can investigate that and the best way to do that is through Safe2Tell,” Pribble said.

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