La Marque police probing Facebook threat made against girl, charter school

LA MARQUE, TX

The threats are against the Premier Learning Academy Charter School and one of its students.

With the help of the La Marque Police Department, the school added security for protection while investigators say they will find the person who made the post. It was a Facebook posting that alarmed a 15-year-old girl.

"All I can release right now is it was just threats of violence," La Marque Police Department Det. Sgt. Shawn Spruill said.

But it didn't end there. La Marque police say the threat extended to the student's school. Premier Learning Academy is a new charter school that opened in August. The classrooms are located in the former Abundant Life School building.

"Anytime there's that type of threat against a student or even if it was an adult, you have to immediately take action on those things," Premier Learning Academy Charter Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Lookabaugh said.

Parents of around 350 students in K through 12 received a letter about the Monday posting.

"They have officers that are always here. We beefed up that security and some of our officers were out here as well," Spruill said.

The threat was from an anonymous Facebook user, and in this case, police were notified by parents quickly after it was posted.

"Anytime you do anything online, monitoring them, being aware of what they are doing," Lookabaugh said.

Police echo that advice and say they've seen kids accept up to 1,000 so called "friends" who were actually strangers.

School leaders say Wednesday was a very normal day. The student who was threatened was back in the classroom as investigators continue to follow the trail of that threat.

"I'm confident that we are going to find out who it was, that Facebook will be able to pull the information," Spruill said.

Police say the person who made the post will likely face charges of making a terroristic threat.

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