This browser does not support the Video element.
Police: Fake school threats have real consequences
Police across North Texas are seeing a rise in school threats. It's causing problems at several schools and even prompted one local school district to close for the day. Officer Jimmy Pollozani from the Fort Worth Police Department explains that fake threats can lead to serious consequences for those responsible.
LEWISVILLE, Texas - Four Lewisville Independent School District students are facing charges for allegedly posting school threats in an attempt to get out of class, police said.
The threats were made on Thursday against Huffines Middle School.
Lewisville police said they quickly recognized the posts as "duplicates or recycled posts from other threatening posts that have been seen across the Metroplex and the state this week and last week."
A school resource officer was notified about the threats and took immediate action, launching the criminal investigation.
"It's difficult to speculate exactly what they were trying to accomplish, but what we understand is that they want to avoid school today," said Lewisville Police Chief Brook Rollins.
Investigators still took them seriously and identified four juveniles who are believed to be responsible.
Police were able to determine it was a hoax.
"What we're seeing is recycled photographs or images from prior disposed of cases, or cases that we know had no credibility to them. But even when those threats come in, despite the fact that they match similarly to other ones, we don't take those as, well, that's just a threat that appeared last week. We take them all very seriously even if they're directly tailored to that school. We want to make sure we're investigating. We never want to turn our back to what that could be," said Rollins.
The police department said it doesn’t matter if the posts are real or a joke. They are all investigated, and ultimately, the person responsible faces stiff legal consequences, as well as disciplinary action according to the school district’s student code of conduct.
Fake online threats causing real problems across North Texas schools
Police tell FOX 4 the threats are mostly fake, copied and pasted from similar threats. However, it’s enough to keep campuses on alert. They say it's a growing trend sweeping across North Texas and the state.
"LPD will take a zero-tolerance stance when it comes to any activity that disrupts students’ ability to learn or places them in fear. We are not joking," the department said.
Since the four students are minors, their names are not being released.
The suspects in this case were booked into the Juvenile Detention Center in Denton and charged with making a terroristic threat.
"We are grateful to LPD for their swift action on this hoax threat. The students involved are facing significant legal ramifications for their actions and will also face discipline according to our student code of conduct," said LISD in a statement.
The school district declined an on-camera interview on the incident.