Student arrested for threats toward Lee’s Summit middle school

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police confirmed that a suspect has been arrested after threatening a Lee’s Summit middle school. Law enforcement was made aware around 3 p.m. Monday.

“Our investigators took it immediately. We were contacted by the school,” Sgt. Chris Depue with the Lee’s Summit Police Department said. “They notified us, and our guys went to work immediately.”

“There’s nothing anonymous on the internet. No matter what you think you’re doing. It creates its own electronic paper trail,” Depue added.

Lee’s Summit Superintendent Dr. David Buck released a statement Tuesday morning confirming that a student has been taken into custody after threatening a district middle school on social media.

In a letter to students, family and staff, Buck said the student had made a “vague social media threat” on TikTok toward East Trails Middle School on Monday, causing local law enforcement at the FBI to get involved.

Buck’s letter said:

Dear LSR7 Families & Staff:

Yesterday evening, East Trails Middle School and district administration, the Lee’s Summit Police Department and the FBI swiftly responded to a threatening message posted on TikTok referencing that school.

LSPD officers have since identified and made contact with a student connected to the post. That student was taken into police custody and is not in school today thanks to this quick action.

Earlier this week, we communicated to four school buildings about a vague social media threat that police were unable to corroborate. Threats like the ones we have responded to this week disrupt the learning environment for students and consume staff resources. Please help us emphasize to all students that making a threat against a public school, even as a joke, has serious legal and disciplinary consequences. We are processing this incident in full accordance with school policy and in partnership with our police partners.

These situations reinforce the importance of each and every member of our school community always reporting any threatening post or communication to our school staff and police. We will continue to encourage an environment where students, staff, and families feel empowered to report anything that might be suspicious or out of the ordinary; prompt reporting is important in enabling us to be proactive in maintaining a safe school environment. We’re grateful to the students and parents who exhibited this quick thinking this week.

Finally, if you see a social media threat, please don’t forward or repost it. Instead, take a screenshot and share it with our school administrators and police. Sharing the post makes it harder to find out who started it and slows down the investigation. Our SafeSchool hotlines, accessible on our school websites, are another way to confidentially share information with our leaders.

Thank you for your cooperation, support and patience as we make decisions to keep our students and staff safe. Please also help us thank our law enforcement partners who partner with us each and every day to support safe learning environments in LSR7.

Dr. David Buck
Superintendent

At this time, the details of the post and what the threat contained have not been released by law enforcement, however, this incident follows several other threats , including shootings and bombs, to schools and districts across the Kansas City metro over the last week.

Parents told FOX4 that they are thankful for quick action from the police department and school administration.

“At 6 a.m., we got an email saying the person was caught,” Adam Jameson, a Lee’s Summit school district parent added.

“I want to thank the school district and the department for their swift action, as a family and the community. We felt the stress. Thank you to everyone who helped out,” Jameson shared.

On Monday morning, letters to families, students and staff at Eisenhower Middle School were sent out after a bomb threat was reported at the Kansas City, Kansas school.

The district claimed that the threat may have been part of a “prank” it had dealt with last week and that the school will have “extra support” just in case.

As well as this, another arrest was made on Monday after reports of a threat toward Blue Springs High School were made on Snapchat.

According to law enforcement and school administrators, the juvenile responsible for the threats was identified and arrested. They face legal and disciplinary actions.

The student who threatened the school and administration at East Trails Middle School, however, remains in police custody and will not be present on school property until further notice.

For more information, tune into FOX4 News for the latest details and updates.

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