Threats to local schools jump after Georgia school shooting, attract FBI interest

A recent spate of unfounded threats against schools in the region is becoming typical in the wake of major school shootings such as the one in Georgia last week.

Since Friday, there have been at least nine districts affected by threats of violence in Southwestern Pennsylvania. All of the threats were deemed not credible.

The incidents have garnered the attention of the FBI, which released a statement Wednesday, saying it stands ready to assist in investigations into the threats.

“The FBI is aware of recent threats directed toward multiple school districts across Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We remain in close coordination with our law enforcement partners to provide assistance where appropriate. That includes gathering intelligence, sharing information, tracking down leads and working with partners to identify and mitigate threats quickly and effectively.”

The incidents come a week after four people were killed and nine others injured in a Georgia school shooting. A 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., is charged in the shooting along with his father, who police say bought him the gun used in the shooting.

The rash of such cases locally mirrors a trend across the country, said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland.

“It’s unfortunate, but normal, to see an uptick in threats following a high-profile school shooting that’s on the national radar,” he said. “Parents need to remind the kids that, once you press ‘Send,’ you can’t put the threat back into the smartphone. And you’re going to face a ton of bricks falling on you.

“They’re making some very bad decisions, and they come with some very serious consequences.”

Locally, threats were identified at the New Kensington-Arnold, Allegheny Valley, Armstrong, Leechburg Area, Ligonier Valley, McKeesport Area, Woodland Hills and Butler Area school districts. Penns Manor School District in Indiana County also was among those targeted.

In some of the cases, the threats resulted in lockdowns, early dismissals, late starts and virtual instead of in-person classes.

The most recent resulted in at least temporary lockdowns or modified lockdowns at Armstrong Jr.-Sr. High School and Butler Area High School on Wednesday, the districts confirmed via messages sent to parents and posted to the districts’ Facebook accounts.

Also on Wednesday, Shaler Area School District announced a round of ammunition was found on one of the buses that transports high school and elementary students.

Shaler police posted to its Facebook page confirming the news but said there is no threat to the district and an investigation is underway to find the source of the round.

Principal Gregory Heavner of Acmetonia Elementary School in the Allegheny Valley School District sent a message to families about a threat made Monday.

Police investigated and determined it was not credible.

“While the threat posed no real danger, we took the matter seriously and acted quickly to ensure a safe and secure environment,” Heavner said.

Ligonier Valley High School was evacuated early Wednesday afternoon following a threat involving an explosive device, according to Superintendent Tim Kantor.

Kantor said the school was evacuated as a precaution after the threat was received in a “Safe 2 Say Something” report.

“All students and teachers are safe, and the police are investigating the report,” he said.

No device was found in a sweep of the building, but an investigation was ongoing, according to Ligonier Valley Police Chief Michael Matrunics.

It was the second day in a row activities at the high school were disrupted by a potential threat.

In letters posted on the high school web page Tuesday, the administration announced a volleyball game was postponed that evening and all other evening activities at the school were canceled while officials investigated an earlier Safe 2 Say report.

That investigation concluded there was no credible threat to the safety of staff or students, according to an update from the district.

Last week, a bomb threat at Valley High School in New Kensington prompted a two-hour delay Friday morning in the New Kensington-Arnold School District.

The district notified families late Thursday, apparently prompting some parents to keep their children home from school on Friday. Principal Jon Banko said attendance was “a little lower” on Friday but did not provide specifics.

Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said the threat revolved around a conversation overheard by a student.

“A student overheard a conversation after school and reported it to her parent who called the school,” he said Monday.

The Leechburg Area School District had heightened security at its buildings Monday because of a threat discovered over the weekend. A note, found by a janitor in a boys bathroom, indicated a threat to the school.

“They had their security officers standing outside (the schools), and I was on patrol around the school, itself,” said Leechburg police Chief Jason Schaffer.

Leechburg Area Superintendent David Keibler said Gilpin police officers also were outside the school Monday morning. A message from the school district said custodians found a note Friday night in a boys bathroom at the high school, suggesting a threat to the school.

The district later said the threat was not credible.

“I was first made aware of it Saturday morning at 8 a.m.,” Schaffer said.

The local police were contacted Saturday, and the school district’s security conducted an investigation that included a sweep of the school and analyzing video footage.

“In situations like this, we are focused on the safety and welfare of our students at all times,” Keibler said. “We’ve continued to do our investigation and are confident that it was not a substantial threat to our students.”

Schaffer said the school has not turned over anything to the Leechburg Police Department and is handling the situation itself.

“They didn’t request that I do anything,” Schaffer said. “I called them back again (Monday) asking if I could provide any assistance, and they told me ‘not at this point.’ ”

Keibler said the school has been reviewing security footage from the building, and the district is working with state and local authorities to identify the individual who left the note in the bathroom.

“The situation caused us to use the resources that were available,” Keibler said.

“At no point will we ever take threats like these lightly,” he said.

The Woodland Hills School District held a virtual learning day Tuesday following a series of “swattingcalls.” Swatting is an action of making hoax phone calls to report serious crimes to emergency services, which results in SWAT teams responding to an address.

All scheduled evening activities and practices were held Monday, the Woodland Hills administration said.

It was the second threat the district announced in two days after a social media post was made about a possible school shooting threat at a school named Edgewood High School late Saturday night. The Pennsylvania State Police responded and traced the social media threat to Fayette County. The social media post is now down, but, according to district officials, screenshots are in the possession of police.

In an online post from Sunday afternoon, Woodland Hills Superintendent Daniel Castagna said the district was contacted by the Edgewood Police Department, since Edgewood Elementary School was formerly Edgewood High School.

“In their opinion, (Edgewood Police) do not feel there is any threat to Edgewood Elementary School and no credible threat to the Woodland Hills School District,” Castagna wrote in the post.

In the McKeesport School District, staff posted to social media about a threat Tuesday that was investigated and also deemed unfounded.

Leaders assured families that the safety of students and staff is the top priority and said McKeesport police acted swiftly.

“We understand that even the mention of such threats can be unsettling,” the post read.

Security protocols were activated and the district is working with police to monitor the situation.

While swatting cases can be organized efforts originating across state or national borders, often targeting multiple schools in multiple states, the motivation can be shared with the local threats made by students, former students or someone with a grievance against the school or community, Trump said.

“There’s a sense of power and control by the person making the threat, watching the schools close, the police response and the community anxiety,” he said.

State police on Tuesday charged a 14-year-old Penns Manor Area Junior-Senior High School student with making a bomb threat Monday against his school in Indiana County.

According to state police, a handwritten note was found in a bathroom Monday morning at the school in Cherryhill Township saying there was a bomb in the building that would go off at 1:30 p.m.

Students at the school and the district’s connected elementary school were evacuated and dismissed early. The building was searched and no explosive devices were found, state police said.

Security camera footage was used to identify the 14-year-old student as a suspect, state police said. After being detained by school staff, he was found to be in possession of a pocketknife.

The student was charged as a juvenile with felony counts of threat to use weapons of mass destruction and terroristic threats. He also was charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of a weapon on school property. The student was released to his guardian.

Trooper Clifford Greenfield, a state police spokesman, said he was not aware of any connection between Penns Manor and the other incidents.

As schools deal with such threats, Trump said, they should rethink decisions to close when they also acknowledge a threat is not credible nor substantiated.

“If you’re just closing out of an abundance of caution, even if you know it’s not credible, you may as well be closed every day and not have school,” he said. “For a lot of school leaders, the rationale for the closing is a political one. They’re trying to appease the parents and school staff members and their anxiety, and it’s an easy out. That doesn’t solve the problem.”

Trump said schools need threat assessment teams, a list of heightened security measures that will be taken to keep schools open while a noncredible threat is being investigated, and a crisis communications strategy to get accurate information out to reduce parent and community fear and anxiety.

“It’s a way to get your arms around this rather than knee-jerk reactions based on emotion,” he said.

The threats in Pennsylvania coincide with a string of threats against schools in northeastern Ohio in which a 12-year-old from Lorain, Ohio, and a 13-year-old from Garfield Heights, Ohio, face charges for posting bogus threats to social media sites.

After a significant incident, Trump said, threats that follow usually level off after a few weeks as people begin seeing the consequences for making such threats.

“The message gets out quickly as well,” he said.