SAN ANGELO, Texas — An alleged threat circulating on social media Sunday had parents, San Angelo Independent School District staff and local law enforcement on edge.
The threat was directed to two high schools in San Angelo - Central and Lake View.
As soon as district leaders and campus administrators became aware of the alleged threat, they began an investigation with the San Angelo Police Department. The police investigation continued into Monday morning with detectives keeping a close eye on the teen who was eventually arrested for making terroristic threats.
The SAPD later released a statement, saying, “the SAPD was able to take a 16 year old male subject into custody at a local residence and he was charged with “Terroristic Threats.” The 16 year old male was then transported to the Juvenile Justice Center without further incident.”
As a precaution, both campuses had an increased police presence.
SAISD also released a statement, “The safety of our students is our first priority. We take all matters of this nature seriously and will follow procedures outlined in our Student Code of Conduct.”
Some parents expressed their concern on social media on why they weren't notified sooner.
"Where is the Nixle alert when we really need it ? I'd rather not wait until after something happens! My kid doesn't feel safe at Central," one Facebook user said.
Another concerned Facebook user wrote, in part, "One thing that NEEDS to be done better is communication."
“The school took away my authority to decide what’s best for my child,” parent, Eddie Pope Jr., said.
Pope has two children in the district and said if he would’ve known sooner he wouldn't have taken them to school.
“No, no, that's not something I want my child even have the potential of seeing,” Pope said.
Pope said he found out about the alleged threat when he logged onto Facebook Monday morning. He said a text message from the SAISD would've been a better form of communication instead of an email.
SAISD said in an email to parents, “the district sent a communication early in the morning to impacted campuses prior to school starting. An update that the suspect was in custody was sent District-wide at 10:15am,” according to SAISD Director of Community Relations Molly Johnson Turk.
District officials encourage the community to report any threats to a school district, school official, law enforcement or to the district’s “stay alert” page on saisd.org.
