Hays CISD school threats: Sixth student charged
HAYS COUNTY, Texas - A sixth Hays CISD student has been arrested and charged for making a school shooting threat.
Hays CISD says that on Friday, Sept. 20, the Hays County Sheriff's Office detained an 11-year-old sixth grader from Simon Middle School for a social media threat directed at Simon and Chapa middle schools.
"We don't like putting cuffs on kids, we will, and we do," says Hays County deputy Anthony Hipolito.
The threat prompted extra patrols on middle school campuses on Thursday and Friday.
Hays CISD says as of Friday afternoon, there are no pending threats against any of their schools, and all previous threat investigations have concluded, resulting in arrests.
Deputy Hipolito says, although the threats were not planned active attacks, there is a thorough investigation of each threat made.
The district also released a poster in an effort to put an end to the threats, imploring students to avoid "threat regret" and reminding them that posting a threat on social media will get them "for real arrested, fingerprinted and booked." The poster also directs students to report circulating threats to their school, the district, and the state.
"We are charging these students with a variety of different things from terroristic threats to false alarm. A false alarm report is basically a state jail felony," says Deputy Hipolito.
"We are talking thousands and thousands of man hours that each threat could possibly take, so that is another reason why we take this serious. There have been so many school shootings over the last two or three decades, we have to take it seriously, we can't just sit back and say ‘oh they are joking,’" says Deputy Hipolito.
The posters will be printed for display in the district’s middle and high schools as early as next week and are available in English and Spanish.
The district is asking students and families to report school threats or suspicious activity to iWatch Texas, or call 911.
What we know
Friday's arrest marks the sixth arrest of a Hays CISD student for school shooting threats in five separate incidents since Sept. 11, says the district.
The arrested students range in age from 11 to 15 and attend various schools in the district:
- Simon Middle School sixth-grader, 11
- Simon Middle School sixth-grader, 11
- McCormick Middle School sixth-grader, 11
- Wallace Middle School sixth-grader, 11
- Johnson High School freshman, age 14
- Johnson High School sophomore, age 15
Hays CISD says the students face various felony charges related to making false alarms, terroristic threats and lying to investigators.
The Hays CISD threat trend began on Thursday, Sept 12, when a sixth grader was detained for spreading a school shooting threat on social media. This threat specifically named Simon Middle School.
The next day, the sheriff's office detained another sixth grader from Wallace Middle School, who is friends with the sixth grader from Simon Middle School.
Both sixth-graders are charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a state jail felony for making a false alarm or report.
A threat on Sept. 12 that named McCormick Middle School was forwarded by Snapchat to the FBI.
A sixth grader from McCormick Middle School was charged with the juvenile court equivalent of a third-degree felony of making a terroristic threat.
Hays CISD said at the time the student did not have the means to carry out his threat, but admitted that he made one.
The district said on Sept. 19 that in all of these cases, the investigations revealed the threats did not actually place any campuses in danger.
Other threats against Central Texas school districts
In a Facebook post on September 12, Llano ISD says it learned of a post circulating on social media regarding potential violence at schools in Johnson City, Marble Falls, Llano and Blanco.
The situation is being investigated by Llano ISD Police Department, Granite Shoals PD, Marble Falls PD, Blanco County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Rangers.
Llano ISD says one person was taken into custody and officials increased law enforcement presence on its campuses on September 13. Llano ISD was already investigating a threat made on September 11.
Marble Falls ISD also increased law enforcement presence on its campuses.
Meanwhile, Austin ISD said an arrest was made on Sept. 12 in connection to a threat to Hill Elementary.
Recently, an Eanes ISD student was arrested after police were notified about a possible act of violence against another student or group of students. Superintendent Dr. Jeff Arnett says it came over Snapchat and was about a possible act of violence against another student or group of students.
Eanes ISD police immediately began investigating. Within just a couple of hours, they found there was some legitimacy to the threat. The student was identified and arrested.
Dime Box ISD also reported investigating an anonymous threat that happened on Monday, Sept. 9.
Districts, Travis Co. DA address recent threats
Austin ISD and several other surrounding school districts are also teaming up with the Travis County District Attorney's Office to address the rising concern about school threats.
At a news conference Friday morning, officials broke down how they handle and investigate the threats along with the consequences for making or carrying out the threats.