Similar threats have been happening statewide for days, but one specific threat to a Kyle middle school led to a young girl being detained.
AUSTIN, Texas — Numerous school districts across Texas and nationwide received vague social media threats Wednesday night into Thursday.
One threat even led to a sixth grader being detained for contributing to a scare with the Hays Consolidated Independent School District.
The scares started late Wednesday night as Llano ISD leaders learned about threats on Snapchat. They found the threat was going around statewide on social media and didn’t pose a threat to campuses.
Marble Falls ISD, Manor ISD and Hays CISD alerted parents to similar threats. Then Hutto ISD police received a notification about a threatening post created by a student but found it wasn’t credible.
On Thursday evening, Llano ISD said the district was made aware of a social media post shared in Johnson City, Marble Falls, Llano and Blanco.
A suspect was also arrested Thursday for making a threat to Hill Elementary School, according to Austin City Council member Alison Alter.
Law enforcement continue to learn more about these threats.
Middle schooler faces charges
Hays CISD announced a young girl from one of its middle schools was detained for allegedly spreading the threats on social media.
The district said she will face the juvenile justice system equivalent of making a false alarm or report, which is a state jail felony. Officials also said they will continue to investigate other students that may have been involved.
According to the district, while similar threats have been happening statewide for several days, this one threat specifically mentioned Simon Middle School. In an email to parents, Hays CISD said a concerned parent alerted the district of this threat on Wednesday night.
Below is an excerpt from the letter the district sent to Hays CISD parents Thursday afternoon:
“We live in scary times, especially in terms of the potential for acts of school violence. People want to rightfully warn others about these threats. In situations that are intentionally conflated, it has been our experience that people who do it think it is a joke. Of course, it is not. In fact, it is a crime. ” – Hays CISD
The threat was reported through iWatch Texas, which is a state reporting tool that anyone can use to notify multiple law enforcement agencies about suspicious activities or school threats.
What happened at Liberty Hill ISD?
Liberty Hill ISD was one of the six Central Texas school districts that reported threats.
Students reported the threatening images to an on-campus officer. Within minutes, the district found a “Liberty school” was mentioned on a long list of schools in a social media post where a student was allegedly threatening to attack. Except the district learned the school was actually in Georgia.
“In society now … Unfortunately, every threat that comes out, we take serious until we can prove it,” Liberty Hill ISD Chief of Police Chris Rybarski said.
Liberty Hill ISD also mentioned that they won’t hesitate to hold students accountable for making or spreading threats.
“Our stance here is if a threat is made against our campus or our district, that we are going to prosecute, we will file charges, and we will arrest,” Rybarski said.
Rybarski said to avoid getting charged for spreading threats, if a child shows their parent something that could be perceived as a threat, immediately notify law enforcement and the school.
Reaction after threats
Experts say the consecutive nature of threats is actually common.
“Texas is not standing alone on this,” Mac Hardy with the National Association of School Resource Officers said. “They usually come in waves. They come in bunches and bundles.”
Hardy said with the development of the internet, it’s easier for people to make fake threats. However, after the deadly Georgia high school shooting last week, law enforcement take every single threat seriously.
“These are not victimless crimes,” Hardy said. “These are terroristic threats.”
