Buchanan Community Schools District deems school threat unfounded

Published 9:13 am Friday, May 10, 2019

BUCHANAN — Buchanan Community School District officials investigated a report of a student threatening a school shooting and found the rumors to be unfounded, according to principal Stacey DeMaio and assistant principal Brian Pruett.

The school leaders released a letter explaining the situation Wednesday. The information stated that a student reported Tuesday that he heard about a student wanting to “shoot up the school.”

An investigation revealed that during JV softball practice last week, a player was talking to her teammates about a dream she had about a school shooting.  Another player said she also had a dream about the same thing. A third team member chimed in and said she is reading a book called “The Hate List” and then others talked about the date “5/11” and discussed some “theories” about what could happen, the letter stated.

On Monday, a student who carries a bullet keychain and vessel with the ashes of a loved one was discovered. The student was asked to explain the keychain and officials determined that the bullet was indeed a tribute to a loved one and did not possess a threat.

The following day, students started talking about how this particular student was going to “shoot up the school” on Friday.  Students later reported that they did not hear this student say he was going to “shoot up the school,” and they could they confirm that accusation, the letter said.

The police were contacted and verified that this incident was not a true threat and the accusations could not be substantiated, according to the letter.

DeMaio and Pruett emphasized that school officials will continue to remain vigilant when it comes to school safety. They said they vowed to look into every incident that comes to their attention and asked parents to talk to their children about verifying correct information before spreading rumors that may be false and damaging.

Rumors should be reported to the proper authorities in person or by anonymous text using the Herd Hotline, or by using the state supported Okay2Say platform.

The full letter can be found on the Buchanan Community Schools webpage.