LASARA — An investigation found a student’s threat to be “false” as lawmen yesterday arrived on campus to assure students’ and staffs’ safety.
“We received a report of a threat, which was immediately investigated and determined to be false,” Superintendent Sara Alvarado wrote in an email yesterday. “The report of a gun is also false. Our local law enforcement was present this morning at our campus to ensure the safety of all students and staff.”
The student apparently made the threat in front of a classroom teacher Friday.
During the weekend, the Willacy County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case, interviewing the student and his mother, Sheriff Larry Spence said.
Parents were concerned in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at a South Florida school after officials apparently failed to follow up on that threat, said a parent who asked that his name be withheld because his daughter goes to school here.
The parent said he was concerned because the student who made the threat has had previous disciplinary problems.
“It’s more sensitive considering what happened in Florida,” the father said. “When you start seeing things closer to home, it makes you antsy. It’s scary.”
The parent said 14 of 18 students in his daughter’s class did not attend school yesterday.
His daughter said the student “threatened to shoot a teacher and then shoot up the school.”
“I was pretty scared when I saw the cops in front of the school,” the daughter said.
She described the student as “a good kid.”
“We’ve known him forever so I prayed he wouldn’t do anything but some people just have bad days,” she said. “I’ve known him since elementary but we didn’t think it was going to get to this point.”
Last Friday, the student apparently made the threat in front of a teacher, who reported it, the parent said.
During the weekend, investigators spoke with the student and his mother, who said she would take her son to a counselor, Spence said.
Yesterday, Spence said, deputies arrived on campus “just in case something changed in this young man’s mind.”
“I don’t want it to sound like we blew it off. We didn’t,” Spence said. “We handled it by the book. We talked to the family. We know the people. We asked if there are weapons in the house and there weren’t. You handle each case differently.”
Meanwhile, Alvarado posted a letter on Facebook to assure parents the school had properly handled the threat.
“Lasara ISD utilizes a multi-phase approach to monitor threats and ensure safety,” Alvarado wrote. “This includes training of staff, controlling entry and access and working to partner with law enforcement.”
On Facebook, a student argued the district failed to warn parents.
“If they knew something since Friday, they should’ve notified the parents!” the student wrote on her Facebook page. “They should really take things seriously.”
According to her, the student had made previous threats.
“Everyone in school knows this kid has made many threats since he was in middle school and nothing was done,” she wrote in a private Facebook message.
“When I heard about the threat, I felt very scared because they think nothing can happen just because we’re a small district,” she wrote.
Across the country, schools are responding to students’ threats in the aftermath of the Florida shooting that left 17 dead.
“In the wake of recent events, we understand that school safety and violence prevention is at the forefront of public discussion across the nation,” Alvarado wrote.
“As we have received a report of a threat, which was immediately investigated and determined to be false, we must remind everyone that making any threats against our schools is a very serious offense with severe consequences including arrest and possible criminal charges,” she wrote.
In this case, the student was not arrested, Spence said.
In the Rio Grande Valley, threats have been reported in schools in Harlingen, San Benito, Raymondville and other cities since the Florida shooting.
On Feb. 23, the Lyford school district held a training session for Willacy County’s law enforcement agencies, school district Police Chief Jesse Orozco said.
“It was just to get all our first responders together to make sure we’re all on the same page to respond to an incident — what each other’s role is,” Orozco said. “We’re all working in unison.”
Spence said the training session helped establish a chain of command.
“We’re trying to iron out those things ahead,” Spence said. “We’re a small area. There’s no SWAT team. How are we going to react? Who’s in charge? It’s no longer if, it’s when it’s going to happen.”
