CHEWELAH, Wash. — Students in Chewelah will be able to return to school Wednesday after every school in the district was forced to close following online threats made Tuesday morning.
According to Chewelah School District superintendent Jason Perrins, a School Resource Officer told him about a shooting threat made toward Jenkins Junior/Senior High School around 7:30 a.m. The district’s Incident Management Team got in contact with Chewelah Police around 7:40 a.m. The decision to shut down the school was finalized less than ten minutes later.
Phone calls and emails were sent out to parents and all the buses that were on their way to school at the time were turned around. All students were returned home within an hour and a half.
The district said the threats were originally reported to target Jenkins Junior/Senior High School but it decided to close all schools to students because of how close all the school campuses are to each other.
The district learned later that all of the Chewelah School District was included in the original threat.
According to the district, the threat is not credible and there is no longer a danger to the schools.
Perrins said police are still figuring out whether the threat came from someone in the district.
There will be an increased law enforcement presence at all schools Wednesday.
“Obviously this can create some anxiety among parents or students so we’ll have our counselors, we’ll have our support there for kids but we want to get back to normal as soon as possible,” Perrins said.
According to the Kettle Falls School District, a threat was made on TikTok that prompted its schools to be placed on secure and teach mode. The Kettle Falls district said the threat was not made to any of its schools.
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ORIGINAL STORY, September 10, 2024 9:12 a.m.
A threat made against Jenkins Junior/Senior High School has forced the cancellation of classes in the Chewelah School District.
Law enforcement is investigating and more information will be released when it is available.
According to the Kettle Falls School District, a threat on TikTok prompted their schools to be placed on secure and teach mode. Kettle Falls notes no threats were made against any of their schools.
According to the district, students riding the buses will be returned home.
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