Threats made to Houston area schools lead to heightened security
HUMBLE, Texas (KTRK) -- A dance at an Humble ISD middle school was staffed with extra police officers Friday night after a student made a threat against the school, a district official said.
In a letter sent home and posted on the website of Timberwood Middle School in Atascocita, Principal Ken Buck told parents, after a disagreement with another student, a 12-year-old boy "shouted that he hated school and was going to bring a gun to school and shoot everyone."
That 12-year-old was charged with a third-degree felony, the principal explained. There was no weapon and no one was injured, he added.
The threat comes on the heels of concerning messages and comments at almost a dozen schools this week across the Houston area.
On Friday morning, a 14-year-old Baines Middle School student in Fort Bend ISD was arrested accused of posting a message on Snapchat that read, "I'm shooting up the school," said Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls.
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A 15-year-old student of Harmony Charter School in Katy was also arrested, investigators say, after posting a threat on Snapchat which included video of the Florida shooting aftermath.
Nehls called a news conference to emphasize the severity of such threats.
"You may think you're sending something out to play a game and have fun, but once it reaches us here, the game is over," Nehls said.
In addition to the threats at schools in Fort Bend ISD and Humble ISD, administrators in Alvin ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Clear Creek ISD and HISD all reported possible scares to parents since the mass shooting at Florida's Douglas High School.
The punishment for the students involved range from discipline to criminal charges. The two teens from Fort Bend ISD were charged with making a terroristic threat, a felony. The overwhelming message from law enforcement and school districts is there will be consequences.
"What would drive them to do such a thing." Nehls said. Do they not understand the seriousness of sending these messages out?"
