Threats

[Zoheb N]

So I was wondering what do you guys think of this incident that happened at my school...
Yesterday a note was found, which said that there will be a shooting today at my school during our pep rally. Of course our school took it seriously and called the cops and everything to be there today at the pep rally, but I did not go to it because I had work. So what do you guys think, was this a serious threat or just another kid trying to get attention and cause a commotion.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Zoheb N

So I was wondering what do you guys think of this incident that happened at my school...
Yesterday a note was found, which said that there will be a shooting today at my school during our pep rally. Of course our school took it seriously and called the cops and everything to be there today at the pep rally, but I did not go to it because I had work. So what do you guys think, was this a serious threat or just another kid trying to get attention and cause a commotion.

I can't tell. Matter of fact, nobody can--and that's why you've got to take all of these things seriously. What measures you take will depend on the situation, but you can't just write it off (absolutely no pun intended) when someone writes out a threat.

[Jay H 237]

While it sounds like it may have been just a prank the school had no choice but to take it seriously due to liability issues. If they had just ignored the note after it was brought to thier attention and then an actual shooting had taken place then the board of ed, the school system, and the individuals that had been aware of the note would have been held liable. With society today, and incidents that have happened elsewhere, people don't want to take chances like they may have years ago.

The same thing goes for a false fire alarm. You don't know if it's real or not but you still evacuate the building and the fire department and police are notified.

[Cuog]

Sounds like your school deserves some +rep. They did what they could to avoid a problem if it wasnt a prank/joke. In the end it doesnt matter too much whether it is a false alarm or not as long as everyone does what they should and no one gets hurt.

[KyleGilbert45]

Originally Posted by Zoheb N

So what do you guys think, was this a serious threat or just another kid trying to get attention and cause a commotion.

I don't think this is a question that any of us can answer, but it is important that all threats be taken seriously as if they were real. History has shown that these threats just cannot be written off.

[thegathering]

Our neighboring county, Culpeper, closed all schools two days ago because of anonymous bomb threats. It's sad these kinds of things are happening now.

[JaneYoung]

If you google your school district web page and campus safety procedures, you should find the district's policy and procedures that must be followed according to the situations presented.

[Andrew Blair]

Last year alone, our school was evacuated two or three times because of anonymous bomb threats, including one for which we were taken outside into snow and ~30 degree weather for an hour in our stadium before being released home.

But schools have no choice. A threat is a threat, and you can't simply disregard one because it's the third one this week. When you do, something will happen, and the school will be toast. Unfortunately, 99% of the time, if there is a threat, it's just for thrills or attention. Which is ironic, because you don't want to draw attention to yourself after the act, but nonetheless, it happens. Almost all the time, if somethings going to happen, there will not be a threat. (I hope I don't have to eat my words) Someone who really wants to inflict harm or damage will not jeopardize his plan by giving warning.

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by thegathering

It's sad these kinds of things are happening now.

And FIRST hasn't been immune neither. If I recall correctly, the New Jersey regional was evacuated one year due to a threat.

[Alexa Stott]

Last year, a student wrote "Im gunna blow up da skool" on the stall of a bathroom in our middle school. The administration, upon seeing this, evacuated the school due to the bomb threat. Was this serious? No one really knows. But they did what they were supposed to do according to the procedure.

Throughout the next week or so, there were many "copycat" threats made in our high school. However, in these instances, the administration did nothing, just writing it off as a prank. Sure, they tried to find the students that did it; I even recall our principal making an announcement-"The bomb threat that was scheduled for today is cancelled. If anyone has any information on the bomb threat that didn't happen, please turn over that information to administration." He decided to make light of the situation based on the previous events of the week. But what if one of these "pranks" had been real?

As Andrew pointed out, 99% of the time, it is usually a joke, but there is still that 1% that they take into account, especially with the recent string of school shootings.

[Tristan Lall]

Unfortunately for us all, the knowledge that every threat will cause such a broad reaction is in itself a strong weapon in the hands of someone bent on causing havoc.

For example, it would only take one mischievous individual to make a series of such threats from widely-dispersed public phones, over a sustained period. Assuming that they weren't stupid criminals, and didn't tell their friends, and nobody witnessed it, it's pretty much untraceable. But everyone's on edge, everyone's paranoid, and everyone's utterly impotent—it's terrorism, in a truer sense of the word than the one to which we've lately become accustomed.

The accepted standard of due diligence demands that these threats be dealt with on an individual basis, and that precautions be taken, but as Andrew pointed out, there's really no evidence to support a correlation between threats and actual acts of violence. This uncertainty underscores the brutal fact that no matter the level of precaution (short of a police state), there's always the chance that someone is going to try to kill you for no good reason at all. And unless you want to go down the path of being perpetually consumed by fear, at some point, you're forced to just go about life, and hope nobody chooses you as a target.

You never know if the next threat is going to be the real thing, and you never can know. As long as there are idiots and malfeasants who would wish harm upon you, you're at risk. In this instance, the authorities seem to have done their part; your part is just to understand that the best you can do is to maintain as great a state of normalcy as possible. Panic only satiates their desire for wanton chaos, so your best bet is to brave the 0° weather and the evacuation, and hope that the entire event is as boring as can be imagined—after all, what thrill is to be gained by knowing that a group of people calmly filed out of a building, and found something else to do for the rest of the day?

[Bill_Hancoc]

Originally Posted by Jay H 237

And FIRST hasn't been immune neither. If I recall correctly, the New Jersey regional was evacuated one year due to a threat.

IRI we had the infamous fire drill...still think it was one of the teams who had a bad auton period

[Mike]

Someone tell me why a psychopathic (thats what it takes to bomb a high school) killer would warn his victims before he did his deed?

[Cuog]

Becuase sometimes they really arent sure they want to do it. Sometimes they call with half a hope they will be caught so that they wont have to kill those people. Someone who will bomb a school isnt usually a physcopath. usually they are mentaly unstable and can think of no better way out.

[Jay H 237]

Also, some of them may just want attention and not actually carry an incident fully out. They may feel that other individuals, society, the government, a company.......whatever, has done something to them and they want it brought to attention.


As for the incidents in the schools think of this, what will get more attention, threating to bomb an office building or a school full of children?