Hays County Sheriff’s Office charges two more Hays CISD middle school students in social media threat scares

KYLE -- The Hays County Sheriff's Office has detained and charged two additional sixth grade students from Hays CISD for creating or contributing to social media threat scares in the district that have been occurring this week. The latest juvenile detentions bring the total number of Hays CISD students charged to three in two separate, local social media threat incidents, according to a news release sent by the district. Law enforcement and district officials do not believe the Hays CISD students were responsible for or connected to the spate of social media threats that have been circulating in Texas and the rest of the country. However, they may have been influenced by them, the release stated. On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Hays County Sheriff's Office

charged a sixth grade female student from Wallace Middle School with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report for circulating a threat that specifically named Simon Middle School. Then, on Friday, Sept. 13, the sheriff’s office made a second detention in the case of a sixth grade female student from Simon Middle School who is friends with the student from Wallace Middle School. They are now both charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report. Separate from the threat that circulated regarding Simon Middle School was a threat against McCormick Middle School. On Thursday night, the social media company, Snapchat, directed a threat it detected on its platform that named McCormick Middle School to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to Hays CISD. The FBI then alerted the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, leading the sheriff’s office night shift patrol immediately acted on the matter, which resulted in the detention of a sixth grade male student from McCormick Middle School. While the student did not have the means to carry out his threat, he admitted to law enforcement that he made it, the release stated. He said he was aware of the general threats circulating in Hays CISD earlier Thursday, but could not provide a reason why he chose to post a threat of his own, according to investigators. He is charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a third-degree felony of making a terroristic threat. "The district continues to appreciate the incredible skill and attention provided in these investigations by the Hays County Sheriff's Office, specifically the school resource officers (SROs) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID)," stated the Hays CISD news release. Report school threats or suspicious activity to iWatch Texas at www.hayscisd.net/iwatchtexas , or by calling 9-1-1.