A female student at San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy has been arrested for making a virtual terroristic threat, school officials said Wednesday.
According to San Benito CISD, a threating and alarming comment was sent virtually to several students on campus Wednesday, which prompted an immediate lockdown on the campus while the district’s police and San Benito police worked to investigate the threat, the district stated on its Facebook page.
What the student said or wrote was not included in the district’s Facebook posting.
The lockdown happened sometime after 1 or 1:30 p.m.
“Consequently, a female student was arrested, charged with ‘making a false alarm or report’ (Texas Penal Code §42.06), and transported to the Darrell B. Hester Juvenile Detention Center. The criminal offense is a state jail felony that carries a minimum sentence of 180 days in jail,” the district wrote.
Due to the seriousness of the nature, the district said it was “deemed necessary to search the person and backpacks of numerous students. We greatly appreciate their cooperation throughout the process. Parents/guardians, know that your children were absolutely instrumental in the peaceful outcome of the investigation and be assured that our students and staff were safe at all times.”
The district stated and student or staff behavior leading to a threat against the safety of students and staff, or school disruption will involve police intervention and result in the most severe discipline available.
The district ended its statement with the following: “As educators, it is our responsibility to create a safe environment for our students to learn and thrive. Parents, we invite you to join us in our efforts by speaking with your child(ren) about the severity and consequences of detrimental actions that ‘place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury’ (Texas Penal Code §22.07). Together, we can keep our students, staff, and community safe.”
