Snapchat threat at Centennial Middle School found ‘not credible’
Friday afternoon, when the final bell rang at Centennial Middle School, students dashed out the doors excited for the weekend.
Many of them were not aware of the potential threat reported to the administration that day.
This threat was the second potential threat in a week involving a middle school in the Crane School District.
Friday morning, parents of students who attend Centennial Middle School received a voicemail alerting them of a potential school threat.
An undisclosed photo was circulated on the popular video and photo-sharing social media app, Snapchat.
A family member brought the photo to the school’s attention, and school officials deemed the photo threatening.
One parent was frustrated with the timing of the voicemail notification, saying, ” [The school] is saying that this was reported at 7 o’clock in the morning, this was just before 11 o’clock in the morning when I got the message. There is a decent time gap there. ”
After further investigation by the Yuma Police Department ( YPD ), they found the source of the social media post wasn’t a Centennial student but was a 16-year-old boy who attends a local high school.
Some students believe the high school student may have been trolling, saying, “I think they were just all talk.”
Other students admitted they were scared.
A Centennial student told News 11, ” When I got dropped off at the office my dad was like be careful and before we entered the door he was like if anything happens please stay with your friends. Kids these days do a lot of bad things which can cause them to have problems with their brain. ”
In October, the Crane School District was awarded a million-dollar grant which they plan to invest in mental health resources.
The district said it’s important to have on-site counselors to help students develop social and emotional intelligence to cope with such incidents.
Crane confirmed that Friday’s complaint is not related to the threat to Crane Middle School on Wednesday.
YPD found both Wednesday and Friday’s threats not credible.
Friday’s incident will be forwarded to the county attorney for review.
Copyright 2018 KYMA
