Officials respond to East Texas school threats

TYLER, Texas ( KETK ) – More than 10 threats have been made against East Texas schools since September 3rd and officials are letting students and parents know that they are taking the matter seriously.

Several arrests have been made and people behind them are being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Two teenagers at Carthage ISD and Mount Pleasant ISD have been arrested in East Texas on Tuesday, both accused of making school threats.

The Cass County DA, Courtney Shelton,  is just one of several officials in East Texas prosecuting teenagers for making school threats.

Shelton said a school in that county received a threat September 13 that led to the arrest of a minor.

“The child admitted that the only reason he had made the threat was to get out of school,” Shelton said.

Jacksonville ISD police chief, Bill Avera said that 11 threats in just two weeks is alarming to many parents, but during his time as the board director of the Texas School and Safety Center, he said it happens more often than we think.

“If they have a beef with somebody or they’re wanting to make up a point about something, or they’re wanting to disrupt their local school to just cause chaos, I’m not sure the calendar has any relativity to that,” Avera said.

Avera added that social media apps like Snapchat are harder to trace because the post vanishes after a certain amount of time. He encourages students and parents, “if you see something say something.”

“It’s a dangerous situation to just put a device in a child’s hand and let them go off to do whatever they want to do. We encourage our parents as frequently as we can, to please monitor your children’s social media usage, talk to them about what’s appropriate online, who they should and should not be talking with,” Avera said.

Most of these teens are now facing terroristic threat charges, which is a felony that could leave a lasting negative impact as they enter adulthood.

“Our office will continue to prosecute, prosecute any allegations that are proven, whether that’s posted as a hoax or whether it’s intended as a true threat,” Shelton said.

Shelton agreed with Chief Avera and urges parents to monitor their children’s social media activity and behavior because whether hoax or not, they will be prosecuted.

“We want you to be safe at school, you need to be safe at your school, you need to be in school,” Avera said.

Chief Avera added that each district has an anonymous reporting system for these types of threats. He encourages students and parents to be vigilant and use it.

Shelton said there are counselors available to speak with students who may now fear going to school because of recent events.

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