BEAUMONT, Texas — Several Southeast Texas School districts beefed up security measures Thursday following threats made on social media.
The schools that received threats were West Orange-Stark Middle School, Nederland High School and multiple Beaumont ISD campuses.
A break in the case even led to the arrest of a minor after police say they made the threat to West Orange-Stark Middle School faculty via Instagram.
Nederland High school was on high alert as they received an anonymous threat through their tip service Wednesday.
The school district and Nederland Police worked hard to determine if the threat was credible. In this case, it was not.
District leaders posted on Facebook saying all school activities will continue as normal but extra police were on campus as precaution.
Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter says it takes a lot of police resources to check every threat.
"We will have a huge police presence if we think something might happen at one of these schools. We will contact our partners at DPS, and the county and some state and federal agencies if need be. They will come at any time we need them," he said.
This was the first school threat made to the district this school year.
Investigators say they take any threat made against a school very serious but there is a system in place to vet the legitimacy of a threat.
Investigators want you to know, whoever is making these threats, can face some very serious consequences.
"We may go out and even interview somebody that we got word made the threat, or we may invoke some our state and federal partners like the FBI or DPS to help us locate someone in a different state or find someone that we aren't able to find locally," Porter said. "Don't joke around about school violence because it could get you kicked out of school to criminally prosecuted," he said.
12News sought out Beaumont legal expert Bruce Smith to find out what those criminal charges could be.
"Any type of threat that causes an immediate emergency response is a criminal felony. Specifically a state jail felony which can land you up to two years in prison and 10,000 dollar fine," he said.
These are actions that the police department and school districts aren't afraid of taking.
As for Beaumont ISD, prior to the start of school, a concerning threat was made on social media that did not identify a specific campus.
The Beaumont ISD released an updated announcement stating that the threats were thoroughly investigated and have been proven to be non-credible.
The wording of the threat was similar to the social media threat hoaxes that had targeted at West Orange-Cove Consolidated ISD and Nederland ISD.
The Beaumont ISD Police Department worked closely with the Beaumont Police Department and the FBI to carefully investigate this matter according to the release.
Through their collective efforts, it was confirmed that there was no credible threat to the campuses or to the safety of the students and staff.
However, Beaumont ISD Police remained on alert for the duration of the school day.
Consequences of making a false threat could include:
- Misdemeanor- False report to induce emergency response
- State Jail Felony- If the person making the threat was found to have previously convicted.
- Third Degree Felony- If an officer is injured upon responding to a false emergency call.
Beaumont ISD officials remind parents to take a moment to discuss the situation and the consequences of false threats with their child and encourage them to report any suspicious activity or concerns they may have.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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